I 


THE 

AMERICAN  POLITICIAN; 

CONTAINING   THE   . 

DECLARATION   OF  INDEPENBEN-Cte/  '•.*'/•':' 

THE 

CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES, 

THE 

INAUGURAL  AND  FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESSES 
AND  MESSAGES  OF  ALL  THE  PRESIDENTS, 

AND  OTHER  IMPORTANT  STATE  PAPERS; 

TOGETHER  WITH  A  SELECTION  OF 

INTERESTING     STATISTICAL      TABLES, 

AND 

BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICES 


THE    SIGNERS    OF  THE  DECLARATION    OF  INDEPENDENCE, 

THE  SEVERAL  PRESIDENTS,  AND  MANY  OTHER 

DISTINGUISHED    CHARACTERS. 


BY    M.    S.EARS. 

Embellished  with  the  Portraits  of  the  Presidents, 

FROM    WASHINGTON    TO    TYLER. 

SIXTH    EDITION,    WITH    ADDITIONS. 

BOSTON: 

BELA      MARSH. 

1844. 


£301 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1841, 

BY  E.  LELAND  AND  W.  J.  WHITING, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


GIFT  OF 

Jiattcroit 

JJBRARY 


PREFACE. 


WE  could  not  find  it  in  our  hearts  to  leave  to  an  uncertain, 
and,  perhaps,  unwelcome  reception,  the  compilation  which  we 
here  offer  to  the  reader.  A  preface  is  a  letter  of  introduction, 
designed  to  secure  for  a  work  a  favorable  reception,  and  too 
often  makes  a  display  of  qualities  not  found  in  its  subject  We 
shall,  therefore,  not  attempt  to  accumulate  a  mass  of  high 
sounding  epithets,  to  usher  in  the  approach  of  our  book,  nor 
assert,  in  the  usual  style  of  a  preface,  that  no  knowledge  is  so 
important  to  man,  as  that  which  we  intend  to  convey. 

But  we  would  admonish  the  young  American  of  the  necessity 
of  knowing  something  more  of  the  subject  on  which  he  the 
most  frequently  reads  and  converses.  It  is  not  sufficient  to 
know  that  our  government  has  been  alternately  administered 
by  federalists  and  republicans,  but  it  is  necessary  to  learn  their 
difference,  from  the  prominent  measures  of  each  administration  ; 
and  this  can  be  learned  only  from  public  documents.  It  is 
true  that  the  press  teems  with  political  publications,  from  which 
it  might  be  supposed  that  the  people  could  obtain  the  requisite 
information.  But  it  is  to  be  remembered,  that  most  of  these 
exhibitions  of  political  faith  are  made  by  men  who  have  formed 
their  creed,  not  from  the  light  emitted  by  the  "  fathers  of  our 
constitution,"  but  from  the  peculiar  circumstances  connected 
with  their  education  and  early  associations ;  and  how  honest 
soever  may  be  the  advocates  of  different  views,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  the  basis  of  our 
government  can  be  obtained  from  the  doctrines  of  those  who 
labored  to  confirm  and  strengthen  it.  All  political  wisdom 
was  not  revealed  to  the  early  apostles  of  American  independ- 


O^  --    4~*r*"l  f  • 

0613^75 


4  PREFACE. 

ence,  but  an  accurate  estimate  of  the  comparative  value  of 
different  political  truths  can  be  best  obtained  from  a  knowl 
edge  of  the  circumstances  in  which  they  originated,  and  of 
their  progress  to  the  present  time. 

The  statistical  information  in  this  work  has  been  carefully 
collected  from  the  most  approved  authorities,  and  the  necessary 
corrections  in  them  have  been  made,  wherever  typographical 
errors  appeared. 

In  the  lives  of  the  men  who  were  chiefly  instrumental  in 
conducting  our  country  through  the  storm  of  the  revolution, 
we  have  endeavored  to  delineate  the  peculiar  features  of  their 
political  characters,  by  a  relation  of  the  prominent  incidents 
in  their  lives,  rather  than  by  identifying  them  with  any  political 
party.  In  this  portipn  of  our  book,  we  have  exceeded  the 
limits  which  we  prescribed  to  ourselves  in  our  prospectus,  that 
we  might  not  mar  the  symmetry  of  the  structure,  by  omitting 
any  of  its  parts. 

We  would,  in  conclusion,  express  our  gratitude  to  our 
friends,  for  the  activity  and  zeal  which  they  have  manifested 
in  extending  to  us  their  valuable  aid  and  encouragement 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Declaration  of  Independence, 7 

Constitution  of  the  United  States, 12 

Amendments  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 25 

Washington's  Inaugural  Address, 27 

First  Annual  Address, 31 

Farewell  Address, 35 

J.  Adams's  Inaugural  Address, 51 

First  Annual  Address, 58 

Jefferson's  Inaugural  Address, " 64 

First  Annual  Message, 69 

Madison's  Inaugural  Address, 77 

First  Annual  Message, 81 

Monroe's  Inaugural  Address, 86 

First  Annual  Message, 95 

J.  Q.  Adams's  Inaugural  Address, 107 

First  Annual  Message, 115 

Jackson's  Inaugural  Address, 139 

First  Annual  Message, 143 

Farewell  Address, 171 

Van  Buren's  Inaugural  Address, 192 

First  Annual  Message, . , 203 

Harrison's  Inaugural  Address, 234 

Tyler's  Address  to  the  People, 257 

Extra  Session  Message, 261 

Jackson's  Maysville  Road  Veto, 277 

Bank  Veto, 292 

Tyler's  First  Bank  Veto, 313 

Second  Bank  Veto, 320 

Statistical  Tables  — 

Extra  Sessions  of  Congress, 326 

Governors  of  the  several  States  and  Territories, 327 

Revenue  of  United  States,  and  Losses  by  Defalcations,  ....  328 
Disbursements  of  Revenue,  and  Amount  of  Defalcations,.  .330 

Amount  of  Debts  due  on  Custom-House  Bonds,  &c., 331 

Seats  of  Government,  and  Times  of  holding  Elections, 331 

Dates  of  the  first  Settlement  of  the  several  Colonies, 332 

Adoption  of  the  first  State  Constitutions, 332 

Expenditure  upon  Works  of  Internal  Improvement, 332 

Navy- Yards  in  the  United  States, 332 

Officers  of  United  States  Mint,  and  their  Salaries, 333 

I* 


6  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Post-Offices  —  Privilege  of  Franking, 333 

United  States  Executive  Officers,  and  their  Salaries, 334 

Salaries  of  Officers  of  the  Senate, 334 

of  Officers  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 334 

in  different  Departments  of  the  Government, 335 

of  Officers  of  the  Supreme  Court, 336 

Congress, 336 

Votes  for  President  and  Vice-President, 337 

Population,  Square  Miles,  &c.,  of  the  United  States, 338 

Imports  and  Exports  of  the  United  States, 339 

Cities  of  the  United  States, 339 

Apportionment   of  Representation  for  Congress  in   each 

State, 339 

United  States  Supreme  Court, 340 

Circuit  Courts, 340 

District  Courts, 341 

Presidents  of  Congress,  from  1774  to  1788, 341 

Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 342 

Events  connected  with  the  History  of  the  United  States,.  ..346 
Relative  Value  of  Bank  Notes  in  1816  and  in  1829, 350 

Biographical  Sketches  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  In 
dependence,  352 

Select  Lives  of  Persons  distinguished  in  American  History,  ...  .452 

Lives  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States — 

George  Washington, 507 

John  Adams, 511 

Thomas  Jefferson, 515 

James  Madison, „ 525 

James  Monroe, 528 

John  Quincy  Adams, 531 

Andrew  Jackson, 535 

Martin  Van  Buren, 544 

William  Henry  Harrison, 546 


APPENDIX. 

Date  of  the  Formation  of  the  State  Constitutions,  &c., 553 

Qualifications  of  Voters,  or  Right  of  Suffrage,  in  each  State,. . .  .554 

for  Governors,  Senators,  and  Representatives  in 

the  different  States, 557 

Description  of  the  Capitol  of  the  United  States, 561 


THE 


AMERICAN     POLITICIAN 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

WHEN,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes 
necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands 
which  have  connected  them  with  another,  and  to  assume, 
among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal 
station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God 
entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to  the  opinions  of  mankind 
requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes  which  impel 
them  to  the  separation. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident :  that  all  men 
are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator 
with  certain  unalienable  rights ;  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness ;  that,  to  secure  these 
rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving 
their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed ;  and 
that,  whenever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destruc 
tive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or 
abolish  it,  and  to  institute  new  government,  laying  its 
foundations  on  such  principles,  and  organizing  its  powers 
in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect 
their  safety  and  happiness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate 
that  governments,  long  established,  should  not  be  changed 
for  light  and  transient  causes ;  and,  accordingly,  all  expe 
rience  hath  shown  that  mankind  are  more  disposed  to 
suffer,  while  evils  are  sufferable,  than  to  right  themselves 
by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed. 
But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursu 
ing  invariably  the  same  object,  evinces  a  design  to  reduce 


8  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

them  under  absolu£e»despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their 
duty;  fq^throw.tJff^su'ch  government,  and  to  provide  new 
guards  foV  their  future  security.  Such  has  been  the  pa 
tient  sufferance  of  the  colonies,  and  such  is  now  the 
necessity  which  constrains  them  to  alter  their  former 
systems  of  government.  The  history  of  the  present  king 
of  Great  Britain  is  a  history  of  repeated  injuries  and 
usurpations,  all  having  in  direct  object  the  establishment 
of  an  absolute  tyranny  over  these  states.  To  prove  this, 
let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world. 

He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  the  most  wholesome 
and  necessary  for  the  public  good. 

He  has  forbidden  his  governors  to  pass  laws  of  imme 
diate  and  pressing  importance,  unless  suspended  in  their 
operations  till  his  assent  should  be  obtained  ;  and,  when  so 
suspended,  he  has  utterly  neglected  to  attend  to  them. 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accommoda 
tion  of  large  districts  of  people,  unless  those  people  would 
relinquish  the  right  of  representation  in  the  legislature  — 
a  right  inestimable  to  them,  and  formidable  to  tyrants 
only. 

He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places  unu 
sual,  uncomfortable,  and  distant  from  the  repository  of 
their  public  records,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing  them 
into  compliance  with  his  measures. 

He  has  dissolved  representative  houses  repeatedly,  for 
opposing,  with  manly  firmness,  his  invasions  on  the  rights 
of  the  people. 

He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time  after  such  dissolutions, 
to  cause  others  to  be  elected ;  whereby  the  legislative 
powers,  incapable  of  annihilation,  have  returned  to  the 
people  at  large  for  their  exercise ;  the  state  remaining,  in 
the  mean  time,  exposed  to  all  the  dangers  of  invasion  from 
without  and  convulsions  within. 

He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  population  of  these 
states ;  for  that  purpose  obstructing  the  laws  of  naturali 
zation  of  foreigners,  refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage 
their  migration  thither,  and  raising  the  conditions  of  new 
appropriations  of  lands. 

He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of  justice,  by  re 
fusing  his  assent  to  laws  for  establishing  judiciary  powers 


DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE.  9 

He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone,  for 
the  tenure  of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment 
of  their  salaries. 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices,  and  sent 
hither  swarms  of  officers  to  harass  our  people,  and  eat  out 
their  substance. 

He  has  kept  among  us,  in  time  of  peace,  standing  ar 
mies,  without  the  consent  of  our  legislatures. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  independent  of, 
and  superior  to,  the  civil  power. 

He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a  juris 
diction  foreign  to  our  constitution,  and  unacknowledged 
by  our  laws  ;  giving  his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended 
legislation, 

For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among  us  ; 

For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  trial,  from  punishment 
for  any  murders  which  they  should  commit  on  the  inhab 
itants  of  these  states  ; 

For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world ; 

For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  consent  ; 

For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefit  of  trial 
by  jury; 

For  transporting  us  beyond  seas  to  be  tried  for  pre 
tended  offences; 

For  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English  laws  in  a 
neighboring  province,  establishing  therein  an  arbitrary 
government,  and  enlarging  its  boundaries  so  as  to  render 
it  at  once  an  example  and  fit  instrument  for  introducing 
the  same  absolute  rule  into  these  colonies ; 

For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing  our  most  val 
uable  laws,  and  altering,  fundamentally,  the  forms  of  our 
governments ; 

For  suspending  our  own  legislatures,  and  declaring 
themselves  invested  with  power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all 
cases  whatsoever. 

He  has  abdicated  government  here,  by  declaring  us  out 
of  his  protection,  arid  waging  war  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts,  burnt 
our  towns,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  people. 

He  is,  at  this  time,  transporting  large  armies  of  foreign 
mercenaries  to  complete  the  works  of  death,  desolation, 


10  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

and  tyranny,  already  begun,  with  circumstances  of  cruelty 
and  perfidy  scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous  ages, 
and  totally  unworthy  the  head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

He  has  constrained  our  fellow-citizens,  taken  captive 
on  the  high  seas,  to  bear  arms  against  their  country,  to 
become  the  executioners  of  their  friends  and  brethren,  or 
to  fall  themselves  by  their  hands. 

He  has  excited  domestic  insurrections  amongst  us,  and 
has  endeavored  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers 
the  merciless  Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule  of  war 
fare  is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of  all  ages,  sexes, 
and  conditions. 

In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions,  we  have  petitioned 
for  redress  in  the  most  humble  terms.  Our  repeated  peti 
tions  have  been  answered  only  by  repeated  injury.  A 
prince,  whose  character  is  thus  marked  by  every  act 
which  may  define  a  tyrant,  is  unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a 
free  people. 

Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  attentions  to  our  British 
brethren.  We  have  warned  them,  from  time  to  time,  of 
the  attempts,  by  their  legislature,  to  extend  an  unwarranta 
ble  jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have  reminded  them  of  the 
circumstances  of  our  emigration  and  settlement  here.  We 
have  appealed  to  their  native  justice  and  magnanimity,  and 
we  have  conjured  them,  by  the  ties  of  our  common  kin 
dred,  to  disavow  these  usurpations,  which  would  inevitably 
interrupt  our  connections  and  correspondence.  They,  too, 
have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  of  consanguinity. 
We  must,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  necessity  which  de 
nounces  our  separation,  and  hold  them,  as  we  hold  the 
rest  of  mankind,  enemies  in  war,  in  peace,  friends. 

We,  therefore,  the  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  in  General  Congress  assembled,  appealing  to 
the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  our 
intentions,  do,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the 
good  people  of  these  colonies,  solemnly  publish  and  de 
clare  that  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to 
be,  free  and  independent  states  ;  that  they  are  absolved 
from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  and  that  all 
political  connection  between  them  and  the  state  of  Great 
Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved ;  and  that,  as 


DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE. 


11 


free  and  independent  states,  they  have  full  power  to  levy 
war,  conclude  peace,  contract  alliances,  establish  com 
merce,  and  to  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which  independ 
ent  states  may  of  right  do.  And,  for  the  support  of  this 
declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of  Di 
vine  Providence,  we  mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our  lives, 
our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor. 

The  foregoing  declaration  was,  by  order  of  Congress, 
engrossed,  and  signed  by  the  following  members  :  — 

JOHN    HANCOCK. 


New  Hampshire. 
JOSIAH   BARTLETT, 
WILLIAM    WHIFFLE, 
MATTHEW   THORNTON. 

Massachusetts  Bay. 
SAMUEL  ADAMS, 
JOHN   ADAMS, 
ROBERT  TREAT   PAINE, 
ELBRIDGE    GERRY. 

Rhode  Island. 
STEPHEN   HOPKINS, 
WILLIAM   ELLERY. 

Connecticut. 

ROGER   SHERMAN, 
SAMUEL  HUNTINGTON, 
WILLIAM   WILLIAMS, 
OLIVER  WOLCOTT. 

New   York. 

WILLIAM   FLOYD, 
PHILIP   LIVINGSTON, 
FRANCIS   LEWIS, 
LEWIS  MORRIS. 

New  Jersey. 

RICHARD   STOCKTON, 
JOHN   WITHERSPOON, 
FRANCIS   HOPKINSON, 
JOHN   HART, 
ABRAHAM   CLARK. 

Pennsylvania. 
ROBERT   MORRIS, 
BENJAMIN   RUSH, 
BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN, 
JOHN   MORTON, 
GEORGE   CLYMER, 
JAMES  SMITH, 


GEORGE   TAYLOR, 
JAMES   WILSON, 
GEORGE   ROSS. 

Delaware. 

CMSAR  RODNEY, 
GEORGE   READ, 
THOMAS  M'KEAN. 

Maryland. 

SAMUEL   CHASE, 
WILLIAM  PACA, 
THOMAS   STONE, 
CHARLES  CARROLL,  of  Car 
rol]  ton. 

Virginia. 

GEORGE  WYTHE, 
RICHARD   HENRY  LEE, 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 
BENJAMIN   HARRISON, 
THOMAS   NELSON,  JR. 
FRANCIS  LIGHTFOOT  LEE, 
CARTER  BRAXTON. 

North    Carolina. 
WILLIAM   HOOPER, 
JOSEPH  HEWES, 
JOHN   PENN. 

South   Carolina. 
EDWARD   RUTLEDGE, 
THOMAS  HEYWARD,  JR 
THOMAS   LYNCH,  JR. 
ARTHUR  M1DDLETON. 

Georgia. 

BUTTON   GWINNETT, 
LYMAN   HALL, 
GEORGE   WALTON 


12  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

We,  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a 
more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic 
tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote 
the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty 
to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish 
this  Constitution  for  the  United  States  of  America. 

ARTICLE  I. 

SECT.  I.  —  All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall 
be  vested  in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall 
consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

SECT.  II.  —  1.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be 
composed  of  members  chosen  every  second  year,  by  the 
people  of  the  several  states;  and  the  electors  in  each 
state  shall  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of 
the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  state  legislature. 

2.  No  person  shall  be  a  representative  who  shall  not 
have  attained  the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven 
years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not, 
when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  state  in  which  he 
shall  be  chosen. 

3.  Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned 
among  the  several  states  which  may  be  included  within 
this  Union,  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  which 
shall    be  determined  by  adding  to  the  whole  number  of 
free  persons,  including  those  bound  to  service  for  a  term 
of  years,  and   excluding  Indians  not  taxed,  three  fifths  of 
all  other  persons.     The  actual  enumeration  shall  be  made 
within  three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  and  within  every  subsequent  term 
of  ten  years,  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct. 
The  number  of  representatives  shall  not  exceed  one  for 
every  thirty  thousand,  but  each  state  shall  have  at  least 
one  representative;  and  until  such  enumeration  shall  be 
made,  the  state  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to 
choose  three ;  Massachusetts,  eight ;  Rhode  Island  and 
Providence    Plantations,  one;     Connecticut,   five;    New 


CONSTITUTION.  13 

York,  six ;  New  Jersey,  four ;  Pennsylvania,  eight ;  Drl- 
aware,  one ;  Maryland,  six ;  Virginia,  ten  ;  North  Car 
olina,  five  ;  South  Carolina,  five ;  Georgia,  three. 

4.  When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  from 
any  state,  the  executive  authority  thereof  shall  issue  writs 
of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies. 

5.  The  House  of  Representatives   shall   choose  their 
speaker  and  other  officers,  and  shall  have  the  sole  power 
of  impeachment. 

SECT.  Ill  —  1.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall 
be  composed  of  two  senators  from  each  state,  chosen  by 
the  legislature  thereof,  for  six  years ;  and  each  senator 
shall  have  one  vote. 

2.  Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  conse 
quence   of  the   first   election,  they  shall    be   divided,  as 
equally  as  may  be,  into  three  classes.     The  seats  of  the 
senators  of  the  first  class  shall  be  vacated  at  the  expiration 
of  the  second  year,  of  the  second  class  at  the  expiration 
of  the  fourth  year,  and  the  third  class  at  the  expiration 
of  the  sixth  year,  so  that  one  third  may  be  chosen  every 
second  year;  and  if  vacancies  happen  by  resignation  or 
otherwise,  during    the   recess    of  the  legislature  of  any 
state,  the  executive  thereof  may  make  temporary  appoint 
ments  until  the  next   meeting    of  the  legislature,  which 
phall  then  fill  such  vacancies. 

3.  No  person  shall  be  a  senator  who   shall   not  have 
*ttained  the  age  of  thirty  years,  and  been  nine  years  a 
Citizen  of  the  United  States,  and    who  shall   not,  when 
-Jected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  state  for  which  he  shall 
'je  chosen. 

4.  The  Vice-President  of  the  United  States   shall  be 
President  of  the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  vote,  unless 
they  be  equally  divided. 

5.  The  Senate    shall    choose  their  other  officers,  and 
also  a  president  pro  tempore  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice- 
President,  or  when  he  shall  exercise  the  office  of  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States. 

6.  The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  im 
peachments.     When  sitting  for  that  purpose,  they  shall  be 
on  oath  or  affirmation.     When  the  President  of  the  Uni 
ted  States  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside ;  and  no 

2 


14  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  concurrence  of  two 
thirds  of  the  members  present. 

7.  Judgment,  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall  not  extend 
further  than  to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualification  to 
hold  and  enjoy  any  office  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit  under 
the  United  States ;  but  the  party  convicted  shall,  never 
theless,  be  liable  and  subject  to  indictment,  trial,  judgment, 
and  punishment  according  to  law. 

SECT.  IV.  —  1.  The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  hold 
ing  elections  for  senators  and  representatives  shall  be  pre 
scribed  in  each  state,  by  the  legislature  thereof;  but  the 
Congress  may,  at  any  time,  by  law,  make  or  alter  such 
regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of  choosing  senators. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every 
year ;  and  such  meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in 
December,  unless  they  shall  by  law  appoint  a  differ 
ent  day. 

SECT.  V.  —  1.  Each  house  shall  be  judge  of  the  elec 
tions,  returns,  and  qualifications'  of  its  own  members ;  and 
a  majority  of  each  shall  constitute  a  quorum  to  do  busi 
ness  ;  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day, 
and  may  be  authorized  to  compel  the  attendance  of  absent 
members,  in  such  manner,  and  under  such  penalties,  as 
each  house  may  provide. 

2.  Each   house   may  determine   the   rules   of  its  pro 
ceedings,  punish  its  members  for  disorderly  behavior,  and, 
with  the  concurrence  of  two  thirds,  expel  a  member. 

3.  Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings, 
and  from  time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such 
parts  as  may,  in  their  judgment,  require  secrecy ;  and  the 
yeas    and  nays  of  the    members  of  either  house  on  any 
question  shall,  at  the  desire  of  one  fifth  of  those  present, 
be  entered  on  the  journal. 

4.  Neither  house,  during  the  session  of  Congress,  shall, 
without  the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than 
three  days,  nor  to  any  other  place  than  that  in  which  the 
two  houses  shall  be  sitting. 

SECT.  VI.  —  1.  The  senators  and  representatives  shall 
receive  a  compensation  for  their  services,  to  be  ascertained 
by  law,  and  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States. 
They  shall,  in  all  cases,  except  treason,  felony,  and  breach 


CONSTITUTION.  15 

of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest,  during  their  at 
tendance  at  the  session  of  their  respective  houses,  and  in 
going  to  or  returning  from  the  same ;  and  for  any  speech 
or  debate  in  either  house,  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in 
any  other  place. 

2.  No  senator  or  representative  shall,  during  the  time 
for  which  he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  office 
under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  have 
been  created,  or  the  emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been 
increased,  during  such  time  ;  and  no  person  holding  any 
office  under  the  United  States,  shall  be  a  member  of  either 
house,  during  his  continuance  in  office. 

SECT.  VII.  —  1.  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  ori 
ginate  in  the  House  of  Representatives ;  but  the  Senate 
may  propose  or  concur  with  amendments,  as  on  other 
bills. 

2.  Every  bill,  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  become  a 
law,  be  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United  States ; 
if  he  approve,  he  shall  sign  it ;  but  if  not,  he  shall  return 
it,  with  his  objections,  to  that  house  in  which  it  shall  have 
originated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections  at  large  on  their 
journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.     If,  after  such  re 
consideration,  two  thirds  of  that  house  shall  agree  to  pass 
the  bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objections,  to 
the  other  house,  and   if  approved  by  two  thirds  of  that 
house,  it  shall  become  a  law.     But  in  all   such  cases,  the 
votes  of  both  houses    shall    be  determined    by  yeas    and 
nays ;   and  the  names  of  the  persons  voting  for  and  against 
the  bill,  shall  be  entered  on  the  journals  of  each  house 
respectively.      If  any  bill    shall  not  be  returned  by  the 
President  within  ten  days  (Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall 
have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a  law,  in 
like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed   it,  unless  Congress,  by 
their   adjournment,  prevent  its   return ;    in  which  case  it 
shall  not  be  a  law. 

3.  Every  order,  resolution,  or  vote,  to  which  the  con 
currence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may 
be  necessary,  (except  on  a  question  of  adjournment,)  shall 
be  presented  to   the  President  of  the  United  States ;  and 
before  the  same  shall  take  effect,  shall  be  approved  by 


16  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

him,  or  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall  be  repassed  by 
two  thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
according  to  the  rules  and  limitations  prescribed  in  the 
case  of  a  bill. 

SECT.  VIII.  —  The  Congress  shall  have  power  — 

1.  To  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  ex 
cises  ;  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  de 
fence  and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States ;  but  all 
duties,  imposts,  and  excises  shall  be  uniform  throughout 
the  United  States  : 

2.  To   borrow    money  on    the   credit   of  the   United 
States : 

3.  To   regulate   commerce   with   foreign   nations  and 
among  the  several  states,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes  : 

4.  To  establish  a  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and 
uniform  laws  on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies,  throughout 
the  United  States : 

5.  To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of 
foreign  coin,  and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  meas 
ures  : 

6.  To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the 
securities  and  current  coin  of  the  United  States  : 

7.  To  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads  : 

8.  To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts, 
by  securing,  for  limited  times,  to  authors  and  inventors, 
the  exclusive  right  to  their  respective  writings  and  dis 
coveries  : 

9.  To    constitute    tribunals   inferior   to    the    supreme 
court : 

10.  To  define    and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  com 
mitted  on  the  high  seas,  and  offences  against  the  law  of 
nations : 

11.  To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  repri 
sal,  and  make   rules   concerning  captures   on  land    and 
water : 

12.  To  raise  and  support  armies  ;  but  no  appropriation 
of  money  to  that  use  shall  be  for  a  longer  term  than  two 
years : 

13.  To  provide  and  maintain  a  navy  : 

14.  To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation 
of  the  land  and  naval  forces  : 


CONSTITUTION.  17 

15.  To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute 
the  laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  insurrections,  and  repel 
invasions : 

16.  To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining 
the  militia,  and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may 
be  employed  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  reserving 
to  the  states  respectively  the  appointment  of  the  officers, 
and  the  authority  of  training  the  militia,  according  to  the 
discipline  prescribed  by  Congress  : 

17.  To  exercise  exclusive  legislation,  in  all  cases  what 
soever,  over  such  district  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square) 
as  may,  by  cession   of  particular   states,  and  the  accept 
ance  of  Congress,  become  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
United    States,  and    to    exercise    like    authority  over  all 
places  purchased  by  the  consent  of  the  legislature  of  the 
state  in  which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of  forts, 
magazines,  arsenals,  dock-yards,  and  other  needful  build 
ings  :    And, 

18.  To  make    all    laws  which    shall  be  necessary  and 
proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  foregoing  powers, 
and  all  other    powers  vested  by   this  constitution    in  the 
government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  department 
or  officer  thereof. 

SECT.  IX.  —  I.  The  migration  or  importation  of  such 
persons  as  any  of  the  states,  now  existing,  shall  think 
proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress 
prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight ; 
but  a  tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  on  such  importation, 
not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person. 

2.  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not 
be  suspended,  unless  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  inva 
sion,  the  public  safety  may  require  it. 

3.  No  bill  of  attainder,  or  ex  post  facto  law,  shall  be 
passed. 

4.  No  capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall  be  laid,  unless 
in  proportion  to  the  census  or  enumeration  herein  before 
directed  to  be  taken. 

5.  No  tax  or   duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported 
from   any   state.     No  preference  shall   be  given,  by  any 
regulation  of  commerce   or   revenue,  to  the  ports  of  one 
state  over  those  of  another ;  nor  shall  vessels  bound  to  or 

2* 


18  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

from  one  state  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or  pay  duties  in 
another. 

6.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury,  but  in 
consequence  of  appropriations  made  by  law  ;  and  a  regu 
lar   statement  and  account  of  the  receipts    and  expendi 
tures  of  all   public  money  shall   be  published  from  time 
to  time. 

7.  No  title  of  nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United 
States ;  and  no  person  holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust 
under  them,  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress, 
accept  of  any  present,  emolument,  office,  or  title   of  any 
kind  whatever,  from  any  king,  prince,  or  foreign  state. 

SECT.  X.  —  1.  No  state  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alli 
ance,  or  confederation ;  grant  letters  of  marque  and  repri 
sal ;  coin  money;  emit  bills  of  credit;  make  anything 
but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts  ; 
pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex  post  facto  law,  or  law  im 
pairing  the  obligation  of  contracts ;  or  grant  any  title  of 
nobility. 

2.  No  state  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress, 
lay  any  imposts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except 
what  may  be  absolutely  necessary  for  executing  its  in 
spection  laws  ;  and  the  net  produce  of  all  duties  and  im 
posts  laid  by  any  state  on  imports  or  exports,  shall  be  for 
the  use  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States;  and  all 
such  laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  revision  and  control  of 
the  Congress.  No  state  shall,  without  the  consent  of 
Congress,  lay  any  duty  on  tonnage,  keep  troops  or  ships 
of  war  in  time  of  peace,  enter  into  any  agreement  or  com 
pact  with  another  state  or  with  a  foreign  power,  or  engage 
in  war,  unless  actually  invaded,  OT  in  such  imminent  danger 
as  will  not  admit  of  delay. 

ARTICLE  II. 

SECT.  I.  —  1.  The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in 
a  President  of  the  United  States  of  America.  He  shall 
hold  his  office  during  the  term  of  four  years,  and,  together 
with  the  Vice-President,  chosen  for  the  same  term,  be 
elected  as  follows  : 

2.  Each  state  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the 
legislature  thereof  may  direct,  a  number  of  electors,  equal 


CONSTITUTION.  19 

to  the  whole  number  of  senators  and  representatives  to 
which  the  state  may  be  entitled  in  the  Congress ;  but  no 
senator  or  representative,  or  person  holding  an  office  of 
trust  or  profit  under  the  United  States,  shall  be  appointed 
an  elector. 

3.  [Annulled.     See  Amendments,  art.  12.] 

4.  The  Congress  may  determine  the  time  of  choosing 
the   electors,  and   the  day  on  which  they  shall  give  their 
votes  ;  which  day  shall  be  the  same  throughout  the  United 
States. 

5.  No  person,  except  a  natural-born  citizen,  or  a  citi 
zen  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the   adoption   of 
this  constitution,  shall   be   eligible  to  the  office  of  Presi 
dent  ;  neither  shall  any  person  be  eligible  to  that  office, 
who  shall  not  have   attained  the  age  of  thirty-five  years, 
and   been   fourteen  years   a   resident    within    the   United 
States. 

6.  In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President  from  office, 
or  of  his  death,  resignation,  or   inability  to  discharge  the 
powers  and  duties   of  said   office,  the  same  shall  devolve 
on   the   Vice-President^  and    the   Congress  may  by  law 
provide  for  the  case  of  removal,  death,  resignation,  or  in 
ability,  both  of  the  President  arid  Vice-President,  declaring 
what  officer  shall  then  act  as  President,  and  such  officer 
shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  disability  be  removed,  or  a 
President  shall  be  elected. 

7.  The  President  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  his 
services  a  compensation  which  shall  neither  be  increased 
nor  diminished  during  the  period  for  which  he  shall  have 
been  elected  ;  and  he  shall  not  receive,  within  that  period, 
any  other    emolument   from    the   United   States,  or    any 
of  them. 

8.  Before  he  enter  on   the  execution  of  his  office,  he 
shall  take  the  following  oath  or  affirmation  :  — 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully 
execute  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  de 
fend  the  constitution  of  the  United  States." 

SECT.  II.  —  1.  The  President  shall  be  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the 
militia  of  the  several  states,  when  called  into  the  actual 


20  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

service  of  the  United  States  :  he  may  require  the  opinion, 
in  writing,  of  the  principal  officer  in  each  of  the  executive 
departments,  upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of 
their  respective  offices ;  and  he  shall  have  power  to  grant 
reprieves  and  pardons  for  offences  against  the  United 
States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

2.  He  shall   have  power,  by   and   with  the  advice  and 
consent   of  the   Senate,   to  make  treaties,  provided  two 
thirds  of  the  senators  present  concur;  and  he  shall  nomi 
nate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Sen 
ate,  shall  appoint  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers  and 
consuls,  judges  of  the  supreme  court,  and  all  other  officers 
of  the  United  States,  whose  appointments  are  not  herein 
otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  established  by 
law.     But  the  Congress  may,   by  law,  vest   the  appoint 
ment  of  such  inferior  officers  as  they  think  proper,  in  the 
President  alone,  in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in   the  heads  of 
departments. 

3.  The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacan 
cies  that  may  happen  during  the  recess  of  the   Senate,  by 
granting  commissions,   which  shaU  expire   at  the  end  of 
their  next  session. 

SECT.  III.  —  He  shall,  from  time  to  time,  give  to  the 
Congress  information  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  recom 
mend  to  their  consideration  such  measures  as  he  shall 
judge  necessary  and  expedient ;  he  may,  on  extraordinary 
occasions,  convene  both  houses,  or  either  of  them,  and  in 
case  of  disagreement  between  them,  with  respect  to  the 
time  of  adjournment,  he  may  adjourn  them  to  such  time  as 
he  shall  think  proper  ;  he  shall  receive  ambassadors,  and 
other  public  ministers ;  he  shall  take  care  that  the  laws 
be  faithfully  executed ;  and  shall  commission  all  the  of 
ficers  of  the  United  States. 

SECT.  IV.  —  The  President,  Vice-President,  and  all 
civil  officers  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from 
office  on  impeachment  for,  and  conviction  of,  treason, 
bribery,  or  other  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE  III. 

SECT.  I.  —  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  vested  in  one  supreme  court,  and  in  such  inferior 


CONSTITUTION.  21 

courts  as  the  Congress  may,  from  time  to  time,  ordain 
and  establish.  The  judges,  both  of  the  supreme  and  in 
ferior  courts,  shall  hold  their  offices  during  good  behavior, 
and  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  their  services  a  com 
pensation  which  shall  not  be  diminished  during  their  con 
tinuance  in  office. 

SECT.  II.  —  1.  The  judicial  power  shall  extend  to  all 
cases  in  law  and  equity  arising  under  this  constitution, 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  treaties  made,  or  which 
shall  be  made,  under  their  authority  ;  to  all  cases  affect 
ing  ambassadors,  and  other  public  ministers  and  consuls ; 
to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdiction  ;  to 
controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a  party  ; 
to  controversies  between  two  or  more  states ;  between  a 
state  and  citizens  of  another  state  ;  between  citizens  of 
different  states  ;  between  citizens  of  the  same  state,  claim 
ing  lands  under  grants  of  different  states,  and  between  a 
state,  or  the  citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  states,  citizens, 
or  subjects. 

2.  In  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  min 
isters,  and  consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  state  shall  be  a 
party,  the  supreme  court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction. 
In   all   other   cases  before  mentioned,  the  supreme  court 
shall  have  appellate  jurisdiction,  both  as  to  law  and  fact, 
with  such  exceptions,  and  under  such  regulations,  as  the 
Congress  shall  make. 

3.  The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeach 
ment,  shall  be  by  jury ;   arid  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the 
state  where  the  said  crimes  shall  have  been   committed  ; 
but  when  not  committed  within  any  state,  the  trial  shall 
be  at  such  a  place  or  places  as  the  Congress  may  by  law 
have  directed. 

SECT.  III.  —  1.  Treason  against  the  United  States  shall 
consist  only  in  levying  war  against  them,  or  in  adhering 
to  their  enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort.  No  per 
son  shall  be  convicted  of  treason,  unless  on  the  testimony 
of  two  witnesses  to  the  same  overt  act,  or  confessions  in 
open  court. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  declare  the  pun 
ishment  of  treason  ;  but  no  attainder  of  treason  shall  work 


22  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

corruption  of  blood,  or  forfeiture,  except  during  the  life  of 
the  person  attainted. 

ARTICLE   IV. 

SECT.  I.  —  Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each 
state  to  the  public  acts,  records,  and  judicial  proceedings 
of  every  other  state.  And  the  Congress  may,  by  general 
laws,  prescribe  the  manner  in  which  such  acts,  records, 
and  proceedings  shall  be  proved,  and  the  effect  thereof. 

SECT.  II.  —  1.  The  citizens  of  each  state  shall  be  enti 
tled  to  all  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the 
several  states. 

2.  A  person  charged  in  any  state  with  treason,  felony, 
or  other  crime,  who  shall  flee  from  justice,  and   be  found 
in   another   state,  shall,  on   demand   of  the  executive  au 
thority   of  the   state   from    which    he   fled,   be  delivered 
up  to  be  removed  to  the  state  having  jurisdiction  of  the 
crime. 

3.  No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  state,  un 
der  the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  con 
sequence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged 
from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on 
claim  of  the  party  to    whom  such  service  or  labor  may 
be  due. 

SECT.  III.  —  1.  New  states  may  be  admitted  by  the  Con 
gress  into  this  Union;  but  no  new  state  shall  be  formed 
or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  state  ;  nor 
any  state  be  formed  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more  states, 
or  parts  of  states,  without  the  consent  of  the  legislature  of 
the  states  concerned,  as  well  as  of  the  Congress. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and 
make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the 
territory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States ; 
and  nothing  in  this  constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as 
to  prejudice  any  claims  of  the  United  States,  or  of  any 
particular  state. 

SECT.  IV.  —  The  United  States  shall  guaranty  to 
every  state  of  this  Union  a  republican  form  of  govern 
ment,  and  shall  protect  each  of  them  against  invasion, 
and,  on  application  of  the  legislature,  or  of  the  executive, 


CONSTITUTION.  23 

(when  the   legislature   cannot  be  convened,)  against  do 
mestic  violence. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two  thirds  of  both  houses 
shall  deem  it  necessary,  shall  propose  amendments  to  this 
constitution,  or,  on  the  application  of  the  legislatures  of 
two  thirds  of  the  several  states,  shall  call  a  convention 
for  proposing  amendments,  which,  in  either  case,  shall 
be  valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  part  of  this  consti 
tution,  when  ratified  by  the  legislatures  of  three  fourths  of 
the  several  states,  or  by  conventions  in  three  fourths  there 
of,  as  the  one  or  the  other  mode  of  ratification  may  be 
proposed  by  the  Congress;  provided  that  no  amendment 
which  may  be  made  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eight,  shall  in  any  manner  affect  the  first  and 
fourth  clauses  in  the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article ;  and 
that  no  state,  without  its  consent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its 
equal  suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE    VI. 

1.  All  debts  contracted,  and  engagements  entered  into, 
before  the  adoption   of  this  constitution,  shall   be  as  valid 
against  the  United  States  under  this  constitution,  as  under 
the  confederation. 

2.  This  constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and  all  treaties 
made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land;  and 
the  judges  in  every  state  shall  be  bound  thereby  ;  any  thing 
in  the  constitution   or   laws  of  any  state  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding. 

3.  The  senators  and  representatives  before  mentioned, 
and  the  members  of  the  several  state  legislatures,  and  all 
executive  and  judicial  officers,  both  of  the  United  States 
and  of  the  several  states,  shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirma 
tion  to  support  this  constitution  ;  but  no  religious  test  shall 
ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to  any  office  or  public 
trust  under  the  United  States. 


THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


ARTICLE   VII. 

The  ratification  of  the  conventions  of  nine  states 
shall  be  sufficient  for  the  establishment  of  this  constitu 
tion  between  the  states  so  ratifying  the  same. 

Done  in  convention,  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  states 
present,  the  seventeenth  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven, 
and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  Ameri 
ca  the  twelfth.  In  witness  whereof,  we  have  hereunto 
subscribed  our  names. 

GEORGE   WASHINGTON, 

President,  and  Deputy  from  Virginia. 


New  Hampshire 
JOHN  LANGDON, 
NICHOLAS  GILMAN. 

Massachusetts. 

NATHANIEL  GORHAM, 
RUFUS  KING. 

Connecticut. 

WM.  SAMUEL  JOHNSON, 
ROGER  SHERMAN. 

New  York. 
ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

New  Jersey. 

WILLIAM  LIVINGSTON, 
DAVID  BREARLEY, 
WILLIAM  PATTERSON, 
JONATHAN  DAYTON. 

Pennsylvania. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 
THOiMAS  MIFFLIN, 
ROBERT  MORRIS, 
GEORGE  CLYMER, 
THOMAS  FITZSIMONS, 
JARED  INGERSOLL, 
JAMES  WILSON, 
GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS. 


Delaware. 

GEORGE  READ, 
GUNNING  BEDFORD,  JR. 
JOHN  DICKERSON, 
RICHARD  BASSETT, 
JACOB  BROOM. 

Maryland. 

JAMES  M'HENRY, 
DAN'L.  of  ST.  THO.  JENIFER, 
DANIEL  CARROLL. 

Virginia. 
JOHN  BLAIR, 
JAMES  MADISON,  JR. 

North  Carolina. 
WILLIAM  BLOUNT, 
RICH.  DOBBS  SPAIGHT, 
HUGH  WILLIAMSON. 

South  Carolina. 
JOHN  RUTLEDGE, 
CHARLES  C.  PINCKNEY, 
CHARLES  PINCKNEY, 
PIERCE  BUTLER. 

Georgia. 

WILLIAM  FEW, 
ABRAHAM  BALDWIN. 


Jlttest, 


WILLIAM  JACKSON,  Secretary. 


AMENDMENTS.  25 


AMENDMENTS   TO  THE   CONSTITUTION. 

ART.  I.  —  Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  es 
tablishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise 
thereof;  or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the 
press ;  or  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assem 
ble  and  to  petition  the  government  for  a  redress  of 
grievances. 

ART.  II.  —  A  well-regulated  militia  being  necessary  to 
the  security  of  a  free  state,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep 
and  bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed. 

ART.  III. — No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quar 
tered  in  any  house  without  the  consent  of  the  owner, 
nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a  manner  to  be  prescribed 
by  law. 

ART.  IV.  —  The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their 
persons,  houses,  papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasona 
ble  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated ;  and  no 
warrants  shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported 
by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the 
place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  or  things  to  be 
seized. 

ART.  V.  —  No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a 
capital,  or  otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  present 
ment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury,  except  in  cases  aris 
ing  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia  when  in 
actual  service,  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger ;  nor  shall 
any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence  to  be  twice  put 
in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb ;  nor  shall  be  compelled,  in  any 
criminal  case,  to  be  witness  against  himself,  nor  be  de 
prived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of 
law;  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  public  use 
without  just  compensation. 

ART.  VI.  —  In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused 
shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an 
impartial  jury  of  the  state  and  district  wherein  the  crime 
shall  have  been  committed,  which  district  shall  have  been 
previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be  informed  of  the 
nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation ;  to  be  confronted  with 
the  witnesses  against  him;  to  have  compulsory  process 
3 


26  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor;  and  to  have  the 
assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defence. 

ART.  VII.  —  In  suits  of  common  law,  where  the  value 
in  controversy  shall  exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial 
by  jury  shall  be  preserved ;  and  no  fact,  tried  by  a  jury, 
shall  be  otherwise  reexamined  in  any  court  of  the  United 
States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the  common  law, 

ART.  VIII.  —  Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor 
excessive  fines  imposed,  nor  cruel  and  unusual  punish 
ments  inflicted. 

ART.  IX.  —  The  enumeration  in  the  constitution,  of 
certain  rights,  shall  not  be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage 
others  retained  by  the  people. 

ART.  X. — The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  states, 
are  reserved  to  the  states  respectively,  or  to  the  people. 

ART.  XI.  —  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States 
shall  not  be  construed  to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or 
equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted  against  one  of  the 
United  States  by  citizens  of  another  state,  or  by  citizens 
or  subjects  of  any  foreign  state. 

ART.  XII.  —  The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respec 
tive  states,  and  vote  by  ballot  for  President  and  Vice-Pres- 
ident,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  shall  not  be  an  inhabitant 
of  the  same  state  with  themselves ;  they  shall  name  in 
their  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  President,  and  in 
distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice-President ;  and 
they  shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as 
President,  and  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President, 
and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each ;  which  lists  they 
shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat  of 
government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the  President 
of  the  Senate.  The  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then  be 
counted ;  the  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes 
for  President,  shall  be  President,  if  such  number  be  a  ma 
jority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed ;  and  if 
no  person  have  such  majority,  then,  from  the  persons  hav 
ing  the  highest  number,  not  exceeding  three,  on  the  list 
of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of  Representa- 


WASHINGTON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  ^7 

lives  shall  choose  immediately,  by  ballot,  the  President.  — 
But,  in  choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by 
states,  the  representation  from  each  state  having  one  vote  ; 
a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or 
members  from  two  thirds  of  the  states,  and  a  majority  of 
all  the  states  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  And  if  the 
House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  President, 
whenever  the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  be 
fore  the  fourth  day  of  March  next  following,  then  the  Vice- 
President  shall  act  as  President,  as  in  the  case  of  the  death 
or  other  constitutional  disability  of  the  President. 

2.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  as 
Vice-President,  shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such  num 
ber  be  a  majority  of  the   whole  number  of  electors  ap 
pointed  ;  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  from  the 
two  highest  numbers  on  the  list,  the  Senate  shall  choose 
the  Vice-President ;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  shall  consist 
of  two  thirds  of  the   whole  number  of  senators,  and   a 
majority  of  the  whole  number  shall   be   necessary  to    a 
choice. 

3.  But  no  person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office 
of  President,  shall  be  eligible  to  that  of  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States. 

ART.  XIII.  —  If  any  citizen  of  the  United  States  shall 
accept,  claim,  receive,  or  retain  any  title  of  nobility  or 
honor,  or  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  accept  or 
retain  any  present,  pension,  office,  or  emolument  of  any 
kind  whatever,  from  any  emperor,  king,  prince,  or  foreign 
power,  such  person  shall  cease  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  shall  be  incapable  of  holding  any  office  of  trust 
or  profit  under  them,  or  either  of  them. 


WASHINGTON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

APRIL  30,  1789. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

AMONG  the  vicissitudes  incident  to  life,  no  event  could 
have  filled  me  with  greater  anxieties  than  that  of  which 


28  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  notification  was  transmitted  by  your  order,  and  re 
ceived  on  the  14th  day  of  the  present  month.  On  the  one 
hand,  I  was  summoned  by  my  country,  whose  voice  I  can 
never  hear  but  with  veneration  and  love,  from  a  retreat 
which  I  had  chosen  with  the  fondest  predilection,  and,  in 
my  flattering  hopes,  with  an  immutable  decision,  as  the 
asylum  of  my  declining  years,  a  retreat  which  was  ren 
dered  every  day  more  necessary  as  well  as  more  dear  to 
me  by  the  addition  of  habit  to  inclination,  and  of  frequent 
interruptions  in  my  health,  to  the  gradual  waste  commit 
ted  on  it  by  time.  On  the  other  hand,  the  magnitude  and 
difficulty  of  the  trust  to  which  the  voice  of  my  country 
called  me,  being  sufficient  to  awaken  in  the  wisest  and 
most  experienced  of  her  citizens  a  distrustful  scrutiny  into 
his  qualifications,  could  not  but  overwhelm  with  despond 
ence  one  who,  inheriting  inferior  endowments  from  na 
ture,  and  unpractised  in  the  duties  of  civil  administration, 
ought  to  be  peculiarly  conscious  of  his  own  deficiencies. 
In  this  conflict  of  emotions,  all  that  I  dare  aver  is,  that  it 
has  been  my  faithful  study  to  collect  my  duty  from  a  just 
appreciation  of  every  circumstance  by  which  it  might  be 
affected.  All  I  dare  hope  is,  that  if,  in  executing  this  task, 
I  have  been  too  much  swayed  by  a  grateful  remembrance 
of  former  instances,  or  by  an  affectionate  sensibility  to  this 
transcendent  proof  of  the  confidence  of  my  fellow-citizens, 
and  have  thence  too  little  consulted  my  incapacity  as  well 
as  disinclination  for  the  weighty  and  untried  cares  before 
me,  my  error  will  be  palliated  by  the  motives  which  misled 
me,  and  its  consequences  be  judged  by  my  country  with 
some  share  of  the  partiality  with  which  they  originated. 

Such  being  the  impressions  under  which  I  have,  in 
obedience  to  the  public  summons,  repaired  to  the  present 
station,  it  would  be  peculiarly  improper  to  omit,  in  this 
first  official  act,  my  fervent  supplications  to  that  Almighty 
Being  who  rules  over  the  universe,  who  presides  in  the 
councils  of  nations,  and  whose  providential  aids  can  sup 
ply  every  human  defect,  that  his  benediction  may  conse 
crate  to  the  liberties  and  happiness  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  a  government  instituted  by  themselves  for 
these  essential  purposes,  and  may  enable  every  instrument 
employed  in  its  administration  to  execute  with  success  the 


WASHINGTON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  29 

functions  allotted  to  his  charge.  In  tendering  this  hom 
age  to  the  great  Author  of  every  public  and  private  good, 
I  assure  myself  that  it  expresses  your  sentiments  not  less 
than  my  own,  nor  those  of  my  fellow-citizens  at  large,  less 
than  either.  No  people  can  be  bound  to  acknowledge 
and  adore  the  invisible  Hand  which  conducts  the  affairs  of 
men,  more  than  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Every 
step  by  which  they  have  advanced  to  the  character  of  an 
independent  nation  seems  to  have  been  distinguished  by 
some  token  of  providential  agency ;  and  in  the  important 
revolution  just  accomplished  in  the  system  of  their  united 
government,  the  tranquil  deliberations  and  voluntary  con 
sent  of  so  many  distinct  communities,  from  which  the  event 
has  resulted,  cannot  be  compared  with  the  means  by  which 
most  governments  have  been  established,  without  some  re 
turn  of  pious  gratitude,  along  with  an  humble  anticipation 
of  the  future  blessings  which  the  past  seems  to  presage. 
These  reflections,  arising  out  of  the  present  crisis,  have 
forced  themselves  too  strongly  on  my  mind  to  be  sup 
pressed.  You  will  join  with  me,  I  trust,  in  thinking  that 
there  are  none  under  the  influence  of  which  the  proceed 
ings  of  a  new  and  free  government  can  more  auspiciously 
commence. 

By  the  article  establishing  the  executive  department,  it 
is  made  the  duty  of  the  President  "  to  recommend  to  your 
consideration  such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary 
and  expedient."  The  circumstances  under  which  I  now 
meet  you  will  acquit  me  from  entering  into  that  subject 
further  than  to  refer  to  the  great  constitutional  charter 
under  which  you  are  assembled,  and  which,  in  denning 
your  powers,  designates  the  objects  to  which  your  atten 
tion  is  to  be  given.  It  will  be  more  consistent  with  those 
circumstances,  and  far  more  congenial  with  the  feelings 
which  actuate  me,  to  substitute,  in  place  of  a  recommenda 
tion  of  particular  measures,  the  tribute  that  is  due  to  the 
talents,  the  rectitude,  and  the  patriotism  which  adorn  the 
characters  selected  to  devise  and  adopt  them.  In  these 
honorable  qualifications  I  behold  the  surest  pledges  that  as, 
on  one  side,  no  local  prejudices  or  attachments,  no  sepa 
rate  views  nor  party  animosities,  will  misdirect  the  com 
prehensive  and  equal  eye  which  ought  to  watch  over  this 
3* 


30  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

great  assemblage  of  communities  and  interests,  so,  on 
another,  that  the  foundations  of  our  national  policy  will  be 
laid  in  the  pure  and  immutable  principles  of  private  mo 
rality  ;  and  the  preeminence  of  free  government  be  exem 
plified  by  all  the  attributes  which  can  win  the  affections  of 
its  citizens,  and  command  the  respect  of  the  world.  I 
dwell  on  this  prospect  with  every  satisfaction  which  an 
ardent  love  for  my  country  can  inspire,  since  there  is  no 
truth  more  thoroughly  established  than  that  there  exists  in 
the  economy  and  course  of  nature  an  indissoluble  union 
between  virtue  and  happiness;  between  duty  and  advan 
tage;  between  the  genuine  maxims  of  an  honest  and  mag 
nanimous  policy  and  the  solid  rewards  of  public  prosperity 
and  felicity ;  since  we  ought  to  be  no  less  persuaded  that 
the  propitious  smiles  of  Heaven  can  never  be  expected  on 
a  nation  that  disregards  the  eternal  rules  of  order  and 
right  which  Heaven  itself  has  ordained,  and  since  the  pres 
ervation  of  the  sacred  fire  of  liberty,  and  the  destiny  of 
the  republican  model  of  government,  are  justly  considered 
as  deeply,  perhaps  as  finally,  staked  on  the  experiment  in 
trusted  to  the  hands  of  the  American  people. 

Besides  the  ordinary  objects  submitted  to  your  care,  it 
will  remain  with  your  judgment  to  decide  how  far  an 
exercise  of  the  occasional  power  delegated  by  the  fifth 
article  of  the  constitution  is  rendered  expedient,  at  the 
present  juncture,  by  the  nature  of  the  objections  which 
have  been  urged  against  the  system,  or  by  the  degree  of 
inquietude  which  has  given  birth  to  them.  Instead  of 
undertaking  particular  recommendations  on  this  subject, 
in  which  I  could  be  guided  by  no  lights  derived  from  of 
ficial  opportunities,  I  shall  again  give  way  to  my  entire 
confidence  in  your  discernment  and  pursuit  of  the  public 
good ;  for  I  assure  myself  that,  while  you  carefully  avoid 
every  alteration  which  might  endanger  the  benefits  of  a 
united  and  effective  government,  or  which  ought  to  await 
the  future  lessons  of  experience,  a  reverence  for  the  char 
acteristic  rights  of  freemen,  and  a  regard  for  the  public 
harmony,  will  sufficiently  influence  your  deliberations  on 
the  question  how  far  the  former  can  be  more  impregnably 
fortified,  or  the  latter  be  safely  and  advantageously  pro 
moted. 


WASHINGTON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESS.        31 

To  the  preceding  observations  I  have  one  to  add,  which 
will  be  most  properly  addressed  to  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives.  It  concerns  myself,  and  will  therefore  be  as  brief 
as  possible.  When  I  was  first  honored  with  a  call  into  the 
service  of  my  country,  then  on  the  eve  of  an  arduous 
struggle  for  its  liberties,  the  light  in  which  I  contemplated 
my  duty  required  that  I  should  renounce  every  pecuniary 
compensation.  From  this  resolution  I  have  in  no  instance 
departed;  and  being  still  under  the  impressions  which 
produced  it,  I  must  decline,  as  inapplicable  to  myself,  any 
share  in  the  personal  emoluments  which  may  be  indispen 
sably  included  in  a  permanent  provision  for  the  executive 
department,  and  must  accordingly  pray  that  the  pecuniary 
estimates  for  the  station  in  which  I  am  placed,  may,  during 
my  continuance  in  it,  be  limited  to  such  actual  expendi 
tures  as  the  public  good  may  be  thought  to  require. 

Having  thus  imparted  to  you  my  sentiments  as  they  have 
been  awakened  by  the  occasion  which  brings  us  together, 
I  shall  take  my  present  leave,  but  not  without  resorting 
once  more  to  the  benign  Parent  of  the  human  race,  in 
humble  supplication  that,  since  he  has  been  pleased  to 
favor  the  American  people  with  opportunities  for  deliber 
ating  in  perfect  tranquillity,  and  dispositions  for  deciding 
with  unparalleled  unanimity  on  a  form  of  government  for  the 
security  of  their  union  and  the  advancement  of  their  hap 
piness,  so  his  divine  blessing  may  be  equally  conspicuous 
in  the  enlarged  views,  the  temperate  consultations,  and  the 
wise  measures  on  which  the  success  of  this  government 
must  depend. 


WASHINGTON'S  FIRST   ANNUAL   ADDRESS. 

JANUARY   8,   1790. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives : 

I  EMBRACE  with  great  satisfaction  the  opportunity  which 
now  presents  itself  of  congratulating  you  on  the  present 
favorable  prospects  of  our  public  affairs.  The  recent  ac 
cession  of  the  important  state  of  North  Carolina  to  the 


32  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

constitution  of  the  United  States,  (of  which  official  infor 
mation  has  been  received,)  the  rising  credit  and  respecta 
bility  of  our  country,  the  general  and  increasing  good-will 
towards  the  government  of  the  Union,  and  the  concord, 
peace,  and  plenty,  with  which  we  are  blessed,  are  circum 
stances  auspicious,  in  an  eminent  degree,  to  our  national 
prosperity. 

In  resuming  your  consultations  for  the  general  good, 
you  cannot  but  derive  encouragement  from  the  reflec 
tion  that  the  measures  of  the  last  session  have  been  as 
satisfactory  to  your  constituents,  as  the  novelty  and  diffi 
culty  of  the  work  allowed  you  to  hope.  Still  further  to 
realize  their  expectations,  and  to  secure  the  blessings 
which  a  gracious  Providence  has  placed  within  our  reach, 
will,  in  the  course  of  the  present  important  session,  call 
for  the  cool  and  deliberate  exertion  of  your  patriotism, 
firmness,  and  wisdom. 

Among  the  many  interesting  objects  which  will  engage 
your  attention,  that  of  providing  for  the  common  defence 
will  merit  particular  regard.  To  be  prepared  for  war  is 
one  of  the  most  effectual  means  of  preserving  peace. 

A  free  people  ought  not  only  to  be  armed,  but  disci 
plined  ;  to  which  end  a  uniform  and  well-digested  plan  is 
requisite :  and  their  safety  and  interest  require  that  they 
should  promote  such  manufactures  as  tend  to  render  them 
independent  of  others  for  essential,  particularly  military 
supplies. 

The  proper  establishment  of  the  troops  which  may  be 
deemed  indispensable,  will  be  entitled  to  mature  considera 
tion.  In  the  arrangements  which  may  be  made  respecting  it, 
it  will  be  of  importance  to  conciliate  the  comfortable  support 
of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  with  a  due  regard  to  economy. 

There  was  reason  to  hope  that  the  pacific  measures 
adopted  with  regard  to  certain  hostile  tribes  of  Indians 
would  have  relieved  the  inhabitants  of  our  southern  and 
western  frontiers  from  their  depredations ;  but  you  will 
perceive  from  the  information  contained  in  the  papers 
which  I  shall  direct  to  be  laid  before  you,  (comprehending 
a  communication  from  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia,) 
that  we  ought  to  be  prepared  to  afford  protection  to  those 
parts  of  the  Union,  and,  if  necessary,  to  punish  aggressors. 


WASHINGTON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESS.        33 

The  interests  of  the  United  States  require  that  our  in 
tercourse  with  other  nations  should  be  facilitated  by  such 
provisions  as  will  enable  me  to  fulfil  my  duty  in  that 
respect,  in  the  manner  which  circumstances  may  render 
most  conducive  to  the  public  good,  and,  to  this  end,  that 
the  compensations  to  be  made  to  the  persons  who  may  be 
employed  should,  according  to  the  nature  of  their  appoint 
ments,  be  defined  by  law ;  and  a  competent  fund  designa 
ted  for  defraying  the  expenses  incident  to  the  conduct  of 
our  foreign  affairs. 

Various  considerations  also  render  it  expedient  that  the 
terms  on  which  foreigners  may  be  admitted  to  the  rights 
of  citizens,  should  be  speedily  ascertained  by  a  uniform 
rule  of  naturalization. 

Uniformity  in  the  currency,  weights  and  measures  of  the 
United  States,  is  an  object  of  great  importance,  and  will,  I 
am  persuaded,  be  duly  attended  to. 

The  advancement  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manu 
factures,  by  all  proper  means,  will  not,  I  trust,  need  recom 
mendation  ;  but  I  cannot  forbear  intimating  to  you  the  ex 
pediency  of  giving  effectual  encouragement,  as  well  to  the 
introduction  of  new  and  useful  inventions  from  abroad,  as  to 
the  exertions  of  skill  and  genius  in  producing  them  at  home ; 
and  of  facilitating  the  intercourse  between  the  distant  parts 
of  our  country  by  a  due  attention  to  the  post-office  and 
post-roads. 

Nor  am  I  less  persuaded  that  you  will  agree  with  me  in 
opinion,  that  there  is  nothing  which  can  better  deserve 
your  patronage  than  the  promotion  of  science  and  litera 
ture.  Knowledge  is  in  every  country  the  surest  basis  of 
public  happiness.  In  one  in  which  the  measures  of  gov 
ernment  receive  their  impressions  so  immediately  from  the 
sense  of  the  community  as  in  ours,  it  is  proportionably 
essential.  To  the  security  of  a  free  constitution  it  con 
tributes  in  various  ways  :  by  convincing  those  who  are 
intrusted  with  the  public  administration,  that  every  valua 
ble  end  of  government  is  best  answered  by  the  enlightened 
confidence  of  the  people;  and  by  teaching  the  people 
themselves  to  know  and  to  value  their  own  rights ;  to  dis 
cern  and  provide  against  invasions  of  them  ;  to  distinguish 
between  oppression  and  the  necessary  exercise  of  lawful 


34  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

authority ;  between  burdens  proceeding  from  a  disregard 
to  their  convenience,  and  those  resulting  from  the  inevita 
ble  exigencies  of  society ;  to  discriminate  the  spirit  of 
liberty  from  that  of  licentiousness,  cherishing  the  first, 
avoiding  the  last,  and  uniting  a  speedy  but  temperate 
vigilance  against  encroachments,  with  an  inviolable  re 
spect  to  the  laws. 

Whether  this  desirable  object  will  be  best  promoted  by 
affording  aids  to  seminaries  of  learning  already  established ; 
by  the  institution  of  a  national  university;  or  by  any  other 
expedients,  will  be  well  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  delibera 
tions  of  the  legislature. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

I  saw  with  peculiar  pleasure,  at  the  close  of  the  last 
session,  the  resolution  entered  into  by  you,  expressive  of 
your  opinion  that  an  adequate  provision  for  the  support  of 
the  public  credit,  is  a  matter  of  high  importance  to  the 
national  honor  and  prosperity.  In  this  sentiment  I  entirely 
concur.  And,  to  a  perfect  confidence  in  your  best  en 
deavors  to  devise  such  a  provision  as  will  be  truly  consistent 
with  the  end,  I  add  an  equal  reliance  on  the  cheerful  co 
operation  of  the  other  branch  of  the  legislature.  It  would 
be  superfluous  to  specify  inducements  to  a  measure  in 
which  the  character  and  permanent  interest  of  the  United 
States  are  so  obviously  and  so  deeply  concerned,  and  which 
has  received  so  explicit  a  sanction  from  your  declaration. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  have  directed  the  proper  officers  to  lay  before  you, 
respectively,  such  papers  and  estimates  as  regard  the  affairs 
particularly  recommended  to  your  consideration,  and  ne 
cessary  to  convey  to  you  that  information  of  the  state  of 
the  Union  which  it  is  my  duty  to  afford. 

The  welfare  of  our  country  is  the  great  object  to  which 
our  cares  and  efforts  ought  to  be  directed.  And  I  shall 
derive  great  satisfaction  from  a  cooperation  with  you,  in 
the  pleasing,  though  arduous  task  of  insuring  to  our  fellow- 
citizens  the  blessings  which  they  have  a  right  to  expect 
from  a  free,  efficient,  and  equal  government. 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN.  35 

WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS. 

SEPTEMBER  17,  1796. 

Friends  and  Fellow-Citizens : 

THE  period  for  a  new  election  of  a  citizen  to  adminis 
ter  the  executive  government  of  the  United  States  being 
not  far  distant,  and  the  time  actually  arrived  when  your 
thoughts  must  be  employed  in  designating  the  person  who 
is  to  be  clothed  with  that  important  trust,  it  appears  to  me 
proper,  especially  as  it  may  conduce  to  a  more  distinct  ex 
pression  of  the  public  voice,  that  I  should  now  apprize  you 
of  the  resolution  I  have  formed,  to  decline  being  consid 
ered  among  the  number  of  those  out  of  whom  the  choice 
is  to  be  made. 

I  beg  you,  at  the  same  time,  to  do  me  the  justice  to  be 
assured,  that  this  reso\ution  has  not  been  taken  without  a 
strict  regard  to  all  the  considerations  appertaining  to  the 
relation  which  binds  a  dutiful  citizen  to  his  country;  and 
that,  in  withdrawing  the  tender  of  service,  which  silence  in 
my  situation  might  imply,  I  am  influenced  by  no  diminu 
tion  of  zeal  for  your  future  interest ;  no  deficiency  of 
grateful  respect  for  your  past  kindness ;  but  am  supported 
by  a  full  conviction  that  the  step  is  compatible  with  both. 

The  acceptance  of,  and  continuance  hitherto  in,  the 
office  to  which  your  suffrages  have  twice  called  me,  have 
been  a  uniform  sacrifice  of  inclination  to  the  opinion  of 
duty,  and  to  a  deference  for  what  appeared  to  be  your  de 
sire.  I  constantly  hoped  that  it  would  have  been  much 
earlier  in  my  power,  consistently  with  motives  which  I  was 
not  at  liberty  to  disregard,  to  return  to  that  retirement 
from  which  I  had  been  reluctantly  drawn.  The  strength 
of  my  inclination  to  do  this,  previous  to  the  last  election, 
had  even  led  to  the  preparation  of  an  address  to  declare  it 
to  you ;  but  mature  reflection  on  the  then  perplexed  and 
critical  posture  of  affairs  with  foreign  nations,  and  the 
unanimous  advice  of  persons  entitled  to  my  confidence, 
impelled  me  to  abandon  the  idea.  I  rejoice  that  the  state 
of  your  concerns,  external  as  well  as  internal,  no  longer 
renders  the  pursuit  of  inclination  incompatible  with  the 


36  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

sentiment  of  duty  or  propriety ;  and  am  persuaded,  what 
ever  partiality  may  be  retained  for  my  services,  that,  in  the 
present  circumstances  of  our  country,  you  will  not  disap 
prove  of  my  determination  to  retire. 

The  impressions  with  which  I  first  undertook  the  ardu 
ous  trust,  were  explained  on  the  proper  occasion.  In  the 
discharge  of  this  trust,  I  will  only  say  that  I  have,  with 
good  intentions,  contributed  towards  the  organization  and 
administration  of  the  government  the  best  exertions  of 
which  a  very  fallible  judgment  was  capable.  Not  uncon 
scious,  in  the  outset,  of  the  inferiority  of  my  qualifications, 
experience  in  my  own  eyes,  perhaps  still  more  in  the  eyes 
of  others,  has  strengthened  the  motives  to  diffidence  of 
myself;  and,  every  day,  the  increasing  weight  of  years 
admonishes  me  more  and  more,  that  the  shade  of  retire 
ment  is  as  necessary  to  me  as  it  will  be  welcome.  Satisfied 
that  if  any  circumstances  have  given  peculiar  value  to  my 
services,  they  were  temporary,  I  have  the  consolation  to 
believe,  that  while  choice  and  prudence  invite  me  to  quit 
the  political  scene,  patriotism  does  not  forbid  it. 

In  looking  forward  to  the  moment  which  is  to  terminate 
the  career  of  my  political  life,  my  feelings  do  not  permit 
me  to  suspend  the  deep  acknowledgment  of  that  debt  of 
gratitude  which  I  owe  to  my  beloved  country  for  the  many 
honors  it  has  conferred  upon  me ;  still  more  for  the  stead 
fast  confidence  with  which  it  has  supported  me;  and  for 
the  opportunities  I  have  thence  enjoyed  of  manifesting  my 
inviolable  attachment,  by  services  faithful  and  persevering, 
though  in  usefulness  unequal  to  my  zeal.  If  benefits  have 
resulted  to  our  country  from  these  services,  let  it  always 
be  remembered  to  your  praise,  and  as  an  instructive  ex 
ample  in  our  annals,  that  under  circumstances  in  which 
the  passions,  agitated  in  every  direction,  were  liable  to 
mislead  —  amidst  appearances  sometimes  dubious  —  vicis 
situdes  of  fortune  often  discouraging  —  in  situations  in 
which  not  unfrequently  want  of  success  has  countenanced 
the  spirit  of  criticism  —  the  constancy  of  your  support  was 
the  essential  prop  of  the  efforts,  and  a  guaranty  of  the 
plans,  by  which  they  were  effected.  Profoundly  penetrated 
with  this  idea,  I  shall  carry  it  with  me  to  the  grave,  as  a 
strong  incitement  to  unceasing  wishes,  that  Heaven  may 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.         37 

continue  to  you  the  choicest  tokens  of  its  beneficence  — 
that  your  union  and  brotherly  affection  may  be  perpetual 
—  that  the  free  constitution  which  is  the  work  of  your 
hands  may  be  sacredly  maintained  —  that  its  administra 
tion  in  every  department  may  be  stamped  with  wisdom 
and  virtue  —  that,  in  fine,  the  happiness  of  the  people  of 
these  states,  under  the  auspices  of  liberty,  may  be  made 
complete,  by  so  careful  a  preservation,  and  so  prudent  a 
use  of  this  blessing  as  will  acquire  to  them  the  glory  of 
recommending  it  to  the  applause,  the  affection,  and  adop 
tion  of  every  nation  which  is  yet  a  stranger  to  it. 

Here,  perhaps,  I  ought  to  stop.  .  But  a  solicitude  for 
your  welfare,  which  cannot  end  but  with  my  life,  and  the 
apprehension  of  danger,  natural  to  that  solicitude,  urge 
me,  on  an  occasion  like  the  present,  to  offer  to  your  solemn 
contemplation,  and  to  recommend  to  your  frequent  review, 
some  sentiments,  which  are  the  result  of  much  reflection, 
of  no  inconsiderable  observation,  and  which  appear  to  me 
all-important  to  the  permanency  of  your  felicity  as  a  people. 
These  will  be  offered  to  you  with  the  more  freedom,  as 
you  can  only  see  in  them  the  disinterested  warnings  of  a 
parting  friend,  who  can  possibly  have  no  personal  motives 
to  bias  his  counsel.  Nor  can  I  forget,  as  an  encourage 
ment  to  it,  your  indulgent  reception  of  my  sentiments  on  a 
former  and  not  dissimilar  occasion. 

Interwoven  as  is  the  love  of  liberty  with  every  ligament 
of  our  hearts,  no  recommendation  of  mine  is  necessary  to 
fortify  or  confirm  the  attachment. 

The  unity  of  government,  which  constitutes  you  one 
people,  is  also  now  dear  to  you.  It  is  justly  so ;  for  it  is  a 
main  pillar  in  the  edifice  of  your  real  independence ;  the 
support  of  your  tranquillity  at  home  ;  your  peace  abroad  ; 
of  your  safety  ;  of  your  prosperity ;  of  that  very  liberty 
which  you  so  highly  prize.  But  as  it  is  easy  to  foresee, 
that,  from  different  causes  and  from  different  quarters,  much 
pains  will  be  taken,  many  artifices  employed,  to  weaken  in 
your  minds  the  conviction  of  this  truth;  as  this  is  the 
point  in  your  political  fortress  against  which  the  batteries 
of  internal  and  external  enemies  will  be  most  constantly  and 
actively  (though  often  covertly  and  insidiously)  directed; 
it  is  of  infinite  moment,  that  you  should  properly  estimate 
4 


38  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  immense  value  of  your  national  union  to  your  collec 
tive  and  individual  happiness ;  that  you  should  cherish  a 
cordial,  habitual,  and  immovable  attachment  to  it;  ac 
customing  yourselves  to  think  and  to  speak  of  it  as  a 
palladium  of  your  political  safety  and  prosperity ;  watching 
for  its  preservation  with  jealous  anxiety  ;  discountenancing 
whatever  may  suggest  even  a  suspicion  that  it  can  in  any 
event  be  abandoned ;  and  indignantly  frowning  upon  the 
first  dawning  of  every  attempt  to  alienate  any  portion  of 
our  country  from  the  rest,  or  to  enfeeble  the  sacred  ties 
which  now  link  together  the  various  parts. 

For  this  you  have  every  inducement  of  sympathy  and 
interest.  Citizens,  by  birth  or  choice,  of  a  common  coun 
try,  that  country  has  a  right  to  concentrate  your  affections. 
The  name  of  AMERICAN,  which  belongs  to  you  in  your 
national  capacity,  must  always  exalt  the  just  pride  of 
patriotism,  more  than  any  appellation  derived  from  local 
discriminations.  With  slight  shades  of  difference  you 
have  the  same  religion,  manners,  habits,  and  political 
principle.  You  have,  in  a  common  cause,  fought  and 
triumphed  together;  the  independence  and  liberty  you 
possess,  are  the  work  of  joint  councils  and  joint  efforts 
—  of  common  dangers,  sufferings,  and  success. 

But  these  considerations,  however  powerfully  they  ad 
dress  themselves  to  your  sensibility,  are  greatly  outweighed 
by  those  which  apply  more  immediately  to  your  interest. 
Here  every  portion  of  our  country  finds  the  most  com 
manding  motives  for  carefully  guarding  and  preserving 
the  union  of  the  whole. 

The  north,  in  an  unrestrained  intercourse  with  the 
south,  protected  by  the  equal  laws  of  a  common  govern 
ment,  finds  in  the  productions  of  the  latter  great  addi 
tional  resources  of  maritime  and  commercial  enterprise, 
and  precious  materials  of  manufacturing  industry.  The 
south,  in  the  same  intercourse,  benefiting  by  the  same 
agency  of  the  north,  sees  its  agriculture  grow  and  its 
commerce  expand.  Turning  partly  into  its  own  channels 
the  seamen  of  the  north,  it  finds  its  particular  navigation 
invigorated  —  and  while  it  contributes  in  different  ways  to 
nourish  and  increase  the  general  mass  of  the  national 
navigation,  it  looks  forward  to  the  protection  of  a  mari- 


39 

time  strength,  to  which  itself  is  unequally  adapted.  The 
east,  in  like  intercourse  with  the  west,  already  finds,  and  in 
the  progressive  improvement  of  interior  communications  by 
land  and  water,  will  more  and  more  find  a  valuable  vent 
for  the  commodities  which  it  brings  from  abroad,  or  man 
ufactures  at  home.  The  west  derives  from  the  east  sup 
plies  requisite  to  its  growth  and  comfort;  and  what  is 
perhaps  of  still  greater  consequence,  it  must  of  necessity 
owe  the  secure  enjoyment  of  indispensable  outlets  for  its 
own  productions,  to  the  weight,  influence,  and  the  future 
maritime  strength  of  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  Union,  di 
rected  by  an  indissoluble  community  of  interest  as  one 
nation.  Any  other  tenure  by  which  the  icest  can  hold 
this  essential  advantage,  whether  derived  from  its  own 
separate  strength,  or  from  an  apostate  and  unnatural 
connection  with  any  foreign  power,  must  be  intrinsically 
precarious. 

While,  then,  every  part  of  our  country  thus  feels  an  im 
mediate  and  particular  interest  in  union,  all  the  parts  com 
bined  cannot  fail  to  find  in  the  united  mass  of  means  and 
efforts,  greater  strength,  greater  resource,  proportionably 
greater  security  from  external  danger,  a  less  frequent  in 
terruption  of  their  peace  by  foreign  nations  ;  and,  what  is 
of  inestimable  value,  they  must  derive  from  union  an 
exemption  from  those  broils  and  wars  between  themselves, 
which  so  frequently  afflict  neighboring  countries,  not  tied 
together  by  the  same  government,  which  their  own  rival- 
ships  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  produce  ;  but  which  op 
posite  foreign  alliances,  attachments,  and  intrigues,  would 
stimulate  and  imbitter.  Hence,  likewise,  they  will  avoid 
the  necessity  of  those  overgrown  military  establishments, 
which,  under  any  form  of  government,  are  inauspicious  to 
liberty,  and  which  are  to  be  regarded  as  particularly  hostile 
to  republican  liberty.  In  this  sense  it  is,  that  your  union 
ought  to  be  considered  as  a  main  prop  of  your  liberty,  and 
that  the  love  of  the  one  ought  to  endear  to  you  the  pres 
ervation  of  the  other. 

These  considerations  speak  a  persuasive  language  to 
every  reflecting  and  virtuous  mind,  and  exhibit  the  con 
tinuance  of  the  union  as  a  primary  object  of  patriotic 
desire.  Is  there  a  doubt  whether  a  common  government 


40  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

can  embrace  so  large  a  sphere  ?  Let  experience  solve  it. 
To  listen  to  mere  speculation  in  such  a  case  were  crimi 
nal.  We  are  authorized  to  hope  that  a  proper  organization 
of  the  whole,  with  the  auxiliary  agency  of  governments  for 
the  respective  subdivisions,  will  afford  a  happy  issue  of  the 
experiment.  It  is  well  worth  a  fair  and  full  experiment. 
With  such  powrerful  and  obvious  motives  to  union,  affect 
ing  all  parts  of  our  country,  while  experience  shall  not 
have  demonstrated  its  impracticability,  there  will  always 
be  reason  to  distrust  the  patriotism  of  those  who  in  any 
quarter  may  endeavor  to  weaken  its  bands. 

In  contemplating  the  causes  which  may  disturb  our 
union,  it  occurs  as  matter  of  serious  concern  that  any 
ground  should  have  been  furnished  for  characterizing 
parties  by  geographical  discriminations  —  Northern  and 
Southern ;  Atlantic  and  Western ;  whence  designing  men 
may  endeavor  to  excite  a  belief  that  there  is  a  real  differ 
ence  of  local  interests  and  views.  One  of  the  expedients 
of  party  to  acquire  influence  within  particular  districts,  is 
to  misrepresent  the  opinions  and  aims  of  other  districts. 
You  cannot  shield  yourselves  too  much  against  the  jeal 
ousies  and  heart-burnings  which  spring  from  these  misrep 
resentations  ;  they  tend  to  render  alien  to  each  other  those 
who  ought  to  be  bound  together  by  fraternal  affection. 
The  inhabitants  of  our  western  country  have  lately  had  a 
useful  lesson  on  this  head.  They  have  seen  in  the  negotia 
tion  by  the  executive,  and  in  the  unanimous  ratification  by 
the  senate  of  the  treaty  with  Spain,  and  in  the  universal 
satisfaction  at  that  event  throughout  the  United  States,  a 
decisive  proof  how  unfounded  were  the  suspicions  propa 
gated  among  them  of  a  policy  in  the  general  government, 
and  in  the  Atlantic  states,  unfriendly  to  their  interests  in 
regard  to  the  Mississippi.  They  have  been  witnesses  to 
the  formation  of  two  treaties,  —  that  with  Great  Britain,  and 
that  with  Spain,  —  which  secure  to  them  every  thing  they 
could  desire,  in  respect  to  our  foreign  relations,  towards 
confirming  their  prosperity.  Will  it  not  be  their  wisdom 
to  rely  for  the  preservation  of  these  advantages  on  the  union 
by  which  they  were  procured  ?  Will  they  not  henceforth 
be  deaf  to  those  advisers,  if  such  there  are,  who  would  sever 
them  from  their  brethren,  and  connect  them  with  aliens  ? 


41 

To  the  efficacy  and  permanency  of  your  union,  a  gov 
ernment  for  the  whole  is  indispensable.  No  alliances, 
however  strict  between  the  parts,  can  be  an  adequate  sub 
stitute  ;  they  must  inevitably  experience  the  infractions  and 
interruptions  which  alliances  at  all  times  have  experienced. 
Sensible  of  this  momentous  truth,  you  have  improved  upon 
your  first  essay,  by  the  adoption  of  a  constitution  of  gov 
ernment  better  calculated  than  your  former  for  an  intimate 
union,  and  for  the  efficacious  management  of  your  com 
mon  concerns.  This  government,  the  offspring  of  your 
own  choice,  uninfluenced  and  unawed ;  adopted  upon  full 
investigation  and  mature  deliberation ;  completely  free  in 
its  principles  ;  in  the  distribution  of  its  powers  uniting  se 
curity  with  energy,  and  containing  within  itself  provision 
for  its  own  amendment,  has  a  just  claim  to  your  confidence 
and  your  support.  Respect  for  its  authority,  compliance 
with  its  laws,  acquiescence  in  its  measures,  are  duties  en 
joined  by  the  fundamental  maxims  of  true  liberty.  The  ba 
sis  of  our  political  system  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  make 
and  to  alter  their  constitutions  of  government.  But  the 
constitution  which  at  any  time  exists,  until  changed  by  an 
explicit  and  authentic  act  of  the  whole  people,  is  sacredly 
obligatory  upon  all.  The  very  idea  of  the  power  and  the 
right  of  the  people  to  establish  government,  presupposes  the 
duty  of  every  individual  to  obey  the  established  government. 

All  obstructions  to  the  execution  of  the  laws,  all  com 
binations  and  associations,  under  whatever  plausible  char 
acter,  with  the  real  design  to  direct,  control,  counteract,  or 
awe,  the  regular  deliberations  and  action  of  the  constituted 
authorities,  are  destructive  of  this  fundamental  principle, 
and  of  fatal  tendency.  They  serve  to  organize  faction  ;  to 
give  it  an  artificial  and  extraordinary  force ;  to  put  in  the 
place  of  the  delegated  will  of  the  nation,  the  will  of  party, 
often  a  small,  but  artful  and  enterprising  minority  of  the 
community;  and  according  to  the  alternate  triumphs  of 
different  parties,  to  make  the  public  administration  the 
mirror  of  the  ill-concerted  and  incongruous  projects  of 
faction,  rather  than  the  organ  of  consistent  and  wholesome 
plans,  digested  by  common  counsels  and  modified  by  mu 
tual  interests. 

However  combinations  or  associations  of  the  above  de- 
4* 


42  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN 

scription  may  now  and  then  answer  popular  ends,  they 
are  likely,  in  the  course  of  time  and  things,  to  become 
potent  engines  by  which  cunning,  ambitious,  and  unprin 
cipled  men  will  be  enabled  to  subvert  the  power  of  the 
people,  and  to  usurp  for  themselves  the  reins  of  govern 
ment  ;  destroying  afterwards  the  very  engines  which  have 
lifted  them  to  unjust  dominion. 

Towards  the  preservation  of  your  government,  and  the 
permanency  of  your  present  happy  state,  it  is  requisite  not 
only  that  you  steadily  discountenance  irregular  opposition 
to  its  acknowledged  authority,  but  also  that  you  resist  with 
care  the  spirit  of  innovation  upon  its  principles,  however 
specious  the  pretext.  One  method  of  assault  may  be  to 
effect  in  the  forms  of  the  constitution  alterations  which  will 
impair  the  energy  of  the  system,  and  thus  to  undermine 
what  cannot  be  directly  overthrown.  In  all  the  changes  to 
which  you  may  be  invited,  remember  that  time  and  habit 
are  at  least  as  necessary  to  fix  the  true  character  of  gov 
ernments,  as  of  other  human  institutions ;  that  experience 
is  the  surest  standard  by  which  to  test  the  real  tendency  of 
the  existing  constitutions  of  a  country;  that  facility  in 
changes,  upon  the  credit  of  mere  hypothesis  and  opinion, 
exposes  to  perpetual  change,  from  the  endless  variety  of 
hypothesis  and  opinion ;  and  remember  especially,  that 
for  the  efficient  management  of  your  common  interests,  in 
a  country  so  extensive  as  ours,  a  government  of  as  much 
vigor  as  is  consistent  with  the  perfect  security  of  liberty, 
is  indispensable.  Liberty  itself  will  find  in  such  a  govern 
ment,  with  powers  properly  distributed  and  adjusted,  its 
surest  guardian.  It  is,  indeed,  little  else  than  a  name, 
where  the  government  is  too  feeble  to  withstand  the  enter 
prises  of  faction,  to  confine  each  member  of  society  within 
the  limits  prescribed  by  the  laws,  and  to  maintain  all  in 
the  secure  and  tranquil  enjoyment  of  the  rights  of  person 
and  property. 

I  have  already  intimated  to  you  the  danger  of  parties 
in  the  state,  with  particular  reference  to  the  founding 
of  them  upon  geographical  discriminations.  Let  me  now 
take  a  more  comprehensive  view,  and  warn  you,  in  the 
most  solemn  manner,  against  the  baneful  effects  of  the 
spirit  of  party  generally. 


43 

This  spirit,  unfortunately,  is  inseparable  from  our  na-* 
ture,  having  its  root  in  the  strongest  passions  of  the  human 
mind.  It  exists  under  different  shapes  in  all  governments, 
more  or  less  stifled,  controlled,  or  repressed ;  but  in  those 
of  the  popular  form  it  is  seen  in  its  greatest  rankness,  and 
is  truly  their  worst  enemy. 

The  alternate  domination  of  one  faction  over  another, 
sharpened  by  the  spirit  of  revenge,  natural  to  party  dissen 
sion,  which  in  different  ages  and  countries  has  perpetrated 
the  most  horrid  enormities,  is  itself  a  frightful  despotism. 
But  this  leads  at  length  to  a  more  formal  and  permanent 
despotism.  The  disorders  and  miseries  which  result,  grad 
ually  incline  the  minds  of  men  to  seek  security  and  repose 
in  the  absolute  power  of  an  individual ;  and,  sooner  or 
later,  the  chief  of  some  prevailing  faction,  more  able  or 
more  fortunate  than  his  competitors,  turns  this  disposition 
to  the  purposes  of  his  own  elevation  on  the  ruins  of  the 
public  liberty. 

Without  looking  forward  to  an  extremity  of  this  kind, 
(which,  nevertheless,  ought  not  to  be  entirely  out  of  sight,) 
the  common  and  continual  mischiefs  of  the  spirit  of  party 
are  sufficient  to  make  it  the  interest  and  duty  of  a  wise 
people  to  discourage  and  restrain  it. 

It  serves  always  to  distract  the  public  councils,  and  en 
feeble  the  public  administration.  It  agitates  the  com 
munity  with  ill-founded  jealousies  and  false  alarms;  kindles 
the  animosity  of  one  part  against  another  ;  foments  occa 
sional  riot  and  insurrection.  It  opens  the  door  to  foreign 
influence  and  corruption,  which  finds  a  facilitated  access 
to  the  government  itself,  through  the  channels  of  party 
passion.  Thus  the  policy  and  will  of  one  country  are  sub 
jected  to  the  policy  and  will  of  another. 

There  is  an  opinion  that  parties  in  free  countries  are 
useful  checks  upon  the  administration  of  the  government, 
and  serve  to  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  liberty.  This,  within 
certain  limits,  is  probably  true ;  and  in  governments  of  a 
monarchical  cast,  patriotism  may  look  with  indulgence,  if 
not  with  favor,  upon  the  spirit  of  party.  But  in  those  of 
the  popular  character,  in  governments  purely  elective,  it  is  a 
spirit  not  to  be  encouraged.  From  the  natural  tendency, 
it  is  certain  there  will  always  be  enough  of  that  spirit  for 


44  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

every  salutary  purpose ;  and  there  being  constant  danger 
of  excess,  the  effort  ought  to  be,  by  force  of  public  opin 
ion,  to  mitigate  and  assuage  it.  A  fire  not  to  be  quenched, 
it  demands  a  uniform  vigilance  to  prevent  its  bursting  into 
a  flame,  lest,  instead  of  warming,  it  should  consume. 

It  is  important,  likewise,  that  the  habits  of  thinking,  in 
a  free  country,  should  inspire  caution,  in  those  intrusted 
with  its  administration,  to  confine  themselves  within  their 
respective  constitutional  spheres ;  avoiding,  in  the  exer 
cise  of  the  powers  of  one  department,  to  encroach  upon 
another.  The  spirit  of  encroachment  tends  to  consolidate 
the  powers  of  all  the  departments  in  one,  and  thus  to 
create,  whatever  the  form  of  government,  a  real  despotism. 
A  just  estimate  of  that  love  of  power,  and  proneriess  to 
abuse  it,  which  predominates  in  the  human  heart,  is  suf 
ficient  to  satisfy  us  of  the  truth  of  this  position.  The 
necessity  of  reciprocal  checks  in  the  exercise  of  political 
power,  by  dividing  and  distributing  it  into  different  depos 
itories,  and  constituting  each  the  guardian  of  the  public 
weal  against  invasions  of  the  other,  has  been  evinced  by 
experiments,  ancient  and  modern ;  some  of  them  in  our 
country,  and  under  our  own  eyes.  To  preserve  them 
must  be  as  necessary  as  to  institute  them.  If,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  people,  the  distribution  or  modification  of 
the  constitutional  powers  be,  in  any  particular,  wrong,  let 
it  be  corrected  by  an  amendment  in  the  way  which  the 
constitution  designates.  But  let  there  be  no  change  by 
usurpation ;  for  though  this,  in  one  instance,  may  be  the 
instrument  of  good,  it  is  the  customary  weapon  by  which 
free  governments  are  destroyed.  The  precedent  must 
always  greatly  overbalance,  in  permanent  evil,  any  partial 
or  transient  benefit  which  the  use  can  at  any  time  yield. 

Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political 
prosperity,  religion  and  morality  are  indispensable  supports. 
In  vain  would  that  man  claim  the  tribute  of  patriotism, 
who  should  labor  to  subvert  these  great  pillars  of  human 
happiness . —  these  firmest  props  of  the  duties  of  men  and 
citizens.  The  mere  politician,  equally  with  the  pious  man, 
ought  to  respect  and  to  cherish  them.  A  volume  could 
not  trace  all  their  connection  with  private  and  public 
felicity.  Let  it  simply  be  asked,  Where  is  the  security  for 


45 

property,  for  reputation,  for  life,  if  the  sense  of  religious 
obligation  desert  the  oaths,  which  are  the  instruments  of 
investigation  in  courts  of  justice  ?  And  let  us  with  cau 
tion  indulge  the  supposition  that  morality  can  be  main 
tained  without  religion.  Whatever  may  be  conceded  to 
the  influence  of  refined  education  on  minds  of  peculiar 
structure,  reason  and  experience  both  forbid  us  to  expect 
that  national  morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of  religious 
principles. 

It  is  substantially  true  that  virtue  or  morality  is  a  neces 
sary  spring  of  popular  government.  The  rule,  indeed, 
extends,  with  more  or  less  force,  to  every  species  of  free 
government.  Who  that  is  a  sincere  friend  to  it  can  look 
with  indifference  upon  attempts  to  shake  the  foundation 
of  the  fabric  1 

Promote,  then,  as  an  object  of  primary  importance,  in 
stitutions  for  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge.  In  pro 
portion  as  the  structure  of  a  government  gives  force  to 
public  opinion,  it  is  essential  that  public  opinion  should 
be  enlightened. 

As  a  very  important  source  of  strength  and  security, 
cherish  public  credit.  One  method  of  preserving  it,  is  to, 
use  it  as  sparingly  as  possible,  avoiding  occasions  of  ex 
pense  by  cultivating  peace,  but  remembering,  also,  that 
timely  disbursements  to  prepare  for  danger,  frequently 
prevent  much  greater  disbursements  to  repel  it ;  avoiding, 
likewise,  the  accumulation  of  debt,  not  only  by  shunning 
occasions  of  expense,  but  by  vigorous  exertions  in  time  of 
peace  to  discharge  the  debts  which  unavoidable  wars 
have  occasioned,  not  ungenerously  throwing  upon  pos 
terity  the  burdens  which  we  ourselves  ought  to  bear. 
The  execution  of  these  maxims  belongs  to  your  represen 
tatives  ;  but  it  is  necessary  that  public  opinion  should  co 
operate.  To  facilitate  to  them  the  performance  of  their 
duty,  it  is  essential  that  you  should  practically  bear  in 
mind,  that  towards  the  payment  of  debts  there  must  be 
revenue ;  that  to  have  revenue  there  must  be  taxes ;  that 
no  taxes  can  be  devised  which  are  not  more  or  less  incon 
venient  and  unpleasant ;  that  the  intrinsic  embarrassment, 
inseparable  from  the  selection  of  the  proper  objects, 
(which  is  always  a  choice  of  difficulties,)  ought  to  be  a 


46  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

decisive  motive  for  a  candid  construction  of  the  conduct 
of  the  government  in  making  it,  and  for  a  spirit  of  acqui 
escence  in  the  measures  for  obtaining  revenue  which  the 
public  exigencies  may  at  any  time  dictate. 

Observe  good  faith  and  justice  towards  all  nations ; 
cultivate  peace  and  harmony  with  all ;  religion  and  mo 
rality  enjoin  this  conduct ;  and  can  it  be  that  good  policy 
does  not  equally  enjoin  it  ?  It  will  be  worthy  of  a  free, 
enlightened,  and,  at  no  distant  period,  a  great  nation,  to 
give  to  mankind  the  magnanimous  and  too  novel  example 
of  a  people  always  guided  by  an  exalted  justice  and  benev 
olence.  Who  can  doubt  but  that,  in  the  course  of  time 
and  things,  the  fruits  of  such  a  plan  would  richly  repay  any 
temporary  advantages  which  might  be  lost  by  a  steady 
adherence  to  it  ?  Can  it  be  that  Providence  has  connected 
the  permanent  felicity  of  a  nation  with  its  virtue  ?  The 
experiment,  at  least,  is  recommended  by  every  sentiment 
which  ennobles  human  nature.  Alas !  it  is  rendered  im 
possible  by  its  vices ! 

In  the  execution  of  such  a  plan,  nothing  is  more  essen 
tial  than  that  permanent,  inveterate  antipathies  against 
particular  nations,  and  passionate  attachment  for  others, 
should  be  excluded;  and  that,  in  the  place  of  them,  just 
and  amicable  feelings  towards  all  should  be  cultivated. 
The  nation  which  indulges  towards  another  an  habitual 
hatred,  or  an  habitual  fondness,  is,  in  some  degree,  a 
slave.  It  is  a  slave  to  its  animosity  or  to  its  affection, 
either  of  which  is  sufficient  to  lead  it  astray  from  its  duty 
and  its  interest.  Antipathy  in  one  nation  against  another, 
disposes  each  more  readily  to  offer  insult  and  injury,  to 
lay  hold  of  slight  causes  of  umbrage,  and  to  be  haughty 
and  intractable  when  accidental  or  trifling  occasions  of 
dispute  occur. 

Hence  frequent  collisions,  obstinate,  envenomed,  and 
bloody  contests.  The  nation,  prompted  by  ill-will  and 
resentment,  sometimes  impels  to  war  the  government, 
contrary  to  the  best  calculations  of  policy.  The  govern 
ment  sometimes  participates  in  the  national  propensity, 
and  adopts,  through  passion,  what  reason  would  reject;  at 
other  times,  it  makes  the  animosity  of  the  nation  subser 
vient  to  the  projects  of  hostility,  instigated  by  pride,  am- 


WASHINGTON'S  FAREWELL,  ADDRESS.  47 

bition,  and  other  sinister  and  pernicious  motives.  The 
peace  often,  sometimes,  perhaps,  the  liberty  of  nations 
has  been  the  victim. 

So,  likewise,  a  passionate  attachment  of  one  nation  for 
another  produces  a  variety  of  evils.  Sympathy  for  the 
favorite  nation,  facilitating  the  illusion  of  an  imaginary 
common  interest  in  cases  where  no  real  common  interest 
exists,  and  infusing  into  one  the  enmities  of  the  other, 
betrays  the  former  into  a  participation  in  the  quarrels  and 
the  wars  of  the  latter,  without  adequate  inducements  or 
justification.  It  leads,  also,  to  concessions  to  the  favor 
ite  nation  of  privileges  denied  to  others,  which  are  apt 
doubly  to  injure  the  nation  making  the  concessions,  by 
unnecessarily  parting  with  what  ought  to  have  been  re 
tained,  and  by  exciting  jealousy,  ill-will,  and  a  disposition 
to  retaliate  in  the  parties  from  whom  equal  privileges  are 
withheld;  and  it  gives  to  ambitious,  corrupt,  or  deluded 
citizens,  (who  devote  themselves  to  the  favorite  nation,) 
facility  to  betray  or  sacrifice  the  interests  of  their  own 
country  without  odium,  sometimes  even  with  popularity ; 
gilding  with  me  appearances  of  a  virtuous  sense  of  obli 
gation  to  a  commendable  deference  for  public  opinion,  or 
a  laudable  zeal  for  public  good,  the  base  or  foolish  com 
pliances  of  ambition,  corruption,  or  infatuation. 

As  avenues  to  foreign  influence,  in  innumerable  ways, 
such  attachments  are  particularly  alarming  to  the  truly 
enlightened  and  independent  patriot.  How  many  oppor 
tunities  do  they  afford  to  tamper  with  domestic  factions, 
to  practise  the  art  of  seduction,  to  mislead  public  opinion, 
to  influence  or  awe  the  public  councils  !  Such  an  attach 
ment  of  a  small  or  weak,  towards  a  great  and  powerful 
nation,  dooms  the  former  to  be  the  satellite  of  the  latter. 
Against  the  insidious  wiles  of  foreign  influence,  (I  con 
jure  you  to  believe  me,  fellow-citizens,)  the  jealousy  of  a 
free  people  ought  to  be  constantly  awake,  since  history 
and  experience  prove  that  foreign  influence  is  one  of  the 
most  baneful  foes  of  republican  government.  But  that 
jealousy,  too,  to  be  useful,  must  be  impartial,  else  it  be 
comes  the  instrument  of  the  very  influence  to  be  avoided, 
instead  of  a  defence  against  it.  Excessive  partiality  for 
one  foreign  nation,  and  excessive  dislike  for  another, 


48  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

cause  those  whom  they  actuate  to  see  danger  only  on  one 
side,  and  serve  to  veil  and  even  second  the  arts  of  influ 
ence  on  the  other.  Real  patriots,  who  may  resist  the  in 
trigues  of  the  favorite,  are  liable  to  become  suspected  and 
odious ;  while  its  tools  and  dupes  usurp  the  applause  and 
confidence  of  the  people  to  surrender  their  interests. 

The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us,  in  regard  to  foreign 
nations,  is,  in  extending  our  commercial  relations,  to  have 
with  them  as  little  political  connection  as  possible.  So 
far  as  we  have  already  formed  engagements,  let  them  be 
fulfilled  with  perfect  good  faith.  Here  let  us  stop. 

Europe  has  a  set  of  primary  interests,  which  to  us  have 
none,  or  a  very  remote  relation.  Hence,  she  must  be  en 
gaged  in  frequent  controversies,  the  causes  of  which  are 
essentially  foreign  to  our  concerns.  Hence,  therefore, 
it  must  be  unwise  in  us  to  implicate  ourselves,  by  arti 
ficial  ties,  in  the  ordinary  vicissitude  of  her  politics,  or 
the  ordinary  combinations  and  collisions  of  her  friendships 
or  enmities. 

Our  detached  and  distant  situation  invijp  and  enables 
us  to  pursue  a  different  course.  If  we  remain  one  peo 
ple,  under  an  efficient  government,  the  period  is  not  far 
off  when  we  may  defy  material  injury  from  external  an 
noyance  ;  when  we  may  take  such  an  attitude  as  will 
cause  the  neutrality  we  may  at  any  time  resolve  upon,  to 
be  scrupulously  respected ;  when  belligerent  nations,  un 
der  the  impossibility  of  making  acquisitions  upon  us,  will 
not  lightly  hazard  the  giving  us  provocation;  when  we 
may  choose  peace  or  war,  as  our  interest,  guided  by  jus 
tice,  shall  counsel. 

Why  forego  the  advantages  of  so  peculiar  a  situation? 
Why  quit  our  own  to  stand  upon  foreign  ground  ?  Why, 
by  interweaving  our  destiny  with  that  of  any  part  of  Eu 
rope,  entangle  our  peace  aftd  prosperity  in  the  toils  of 
European  ambition,  rivalship,  interest,  humor,  or  caprice? 

It  is  our  true  policy  to  steer  clear  of  permanent  alliances 
with  any  portion  of  the  foreign  world  ;  so  far,  I  mean,  as 
we  are  now  at  liberty  to  do  it ;  for  let  me  not  be  under 
stood  as  capable  of  patronizing  infidelity  to  existing  en 
gagements.  I  hold  the  maxim  no  less  applicable  to  public 
than  to  private  affairs,  that  honesty  is  always  the  best 


49 

policy.  I  repeat,  therefore,  let  those  engagements  be  ob 
served  in  their  genuine  sense.  But,  in  my  opinion,  it  is 
unnecessary,  and  would  be  unwise,  to  extend  them. 

Taking  care  always  to  keep  ourselves,  by  suitable  estab 
lishments,  on  a  respectable  defensive  posture,  we  may 
safely  trust  to  temporary  alliances  for  extraordinary  emer 
gencies. 

Harmony,  and  a  liberal  intercourse  with  all  nations, 
are  recommended  by  policy,  humanity,  and  interest.  But 
even  our  commercial  policy  should  hold  an  equal  and 
impartial  hand ;  neither  seeking  nor  granting  exclusive 
favors  or  preferences;  consulting  the  natural  course  of 
things  ;  diffusing  and  diversifying  by  gentle  means  the 
stream  of  commerce,  but  forcing  nothing ;  establishing 
with  powers  so  disposed,  in  order  to  give  trade  a  stable 
course,  to  define  the  rights  of  our  merchants,  and  to  ena 
ble  the  government  to  support  them,  conventional  rules 
of  intercourse,  the  best  that  present  circumstances  and 
natural  opinion  will  permit,  but  temporary,  and  liable  to 
be,  from  time  to  time,  abandoned  or  varied,  as  experience 
and  circumstances  shall  dictate ;  constantly  keeping  in 
view  that  it  is  folly  in  one  nation  to  look  for  disinter ested 
favors  from  another ;  that  it  must  pay  with  a  portion  of 
its  independence  for  whatever  it  may  accept  under  that 
character;  that  by  such  acceptance,  it  may  place  itself  in 
the  condition  of  having  given  equivalents  for  nominal 
favors,  and  yet  of  being  reproached  with  ingratitude  for 
not  giving  more.  There  can  be  no  greater  error  than  to 
expect  or  calculate  upon  real  favors  from  nation  to  nation. 
It  is  an  illusion  which  experience  must  cure,  which  a 
just  pride  ought  to  discard. 

In  offering  to  you,  my  countrymen,  these  counsels  of 
an  old,  affectionate  friend,  I  dare  not  hope  they  will  make 
the  strong  and  lasting  impression  I  could  wish  —  that  they 
will  control  the  usual  current  of  the  passions,  or  prevent 
our  nation  from  running  the  course  which  has  hitherto 
marked  the  destiny  of  nations.  But  if  I  may  even  flatter 
myself  that  they  may  be  productive  of  some  partial  ben 
efit,  some  occasional  good ;  that  they  may  now  and  then 
recur  to  moderate  the  fury  of  party  spirit ;  to  warn  against 
the  mischiefs  of  foreign  intrigue ;  to  guard  against  the 
5 


50  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

impostures  of  pretended  patriotism  ;  this  hope  will  be  a 
full  recompense  for  the  solicitude  for  your  welfare  by 
which  they  have  been  dictated. 

How  far,  in  the  discharge  of  my  official  duties,  I  have 
been  guided  by  the  principles  which  have  been  delineated, 
the  public  records  and  other  evidences  of  my  conduct  must 
witness  to  you  and  to  the  world.  To  myself,  the  assur 
ance  of  my  own  conscience  is,  that  I  have  at  least  believed 
myself  to  be  guided  by  them. 

In  relation  to  the  still  subsisting  war  in  Europe,  my 
proclamation  of  the  22d  of  April,  1793,  is  the  index  to 
my  plan.  Sanctioned  by  your  approving  voice,  and  by 
that  of  your  representatives  in  both  houses  of  Congress, 
the  spirit  of  that  measure  has  continually  governed  me, 
uninfluenced  by  any  attempts  to  deter  or  divert  me  from  it. 

After  deliberate  examination,  with  the  aids  of  the  best 
lights  I  could  obtain,  I  was  well  satisfied  that  our  coun 
try,  under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  had  a  right 
to  take,  and  was  bound  in  duty  and  interest  to  take,  a 
neutral  position.  Having  taken  it,  I  determined,  as  far 
as  should  depend  upon  me,  to  maintain  it  with  modera 
tion,  perseverance,  and  firmness. 

The  considerations  which  respect  the  right  to  hold 
this  conduct,  it  is  not  necessary  on  this  occasion  to 
detail.  I  will  only  observe,  that,  according  to  my  un 
derstanding  of  the  matter,  that  right,  so  far  from  being 
denied  by  any  of  the  belligerent  powers,  has  been  virtually 
admitted  by  all. 

The  duty  of  holding  a  neutral  conduct  may  be  inferred, 
without  any  thing  more,  from  the  obligation  which  justice 
and  humanity  impose  on  every  nation,  in  cases  in  which 
it  is  free  to  act,  to  maintain  inviolate  the  relations  of  peace 
and  amity  towards  other  nations. 

The  inducements  of  interest  for  observing  that  conduct, 
will  best  be  referred  to  your  own  reflections  and  expe 
rience.  With  me,  a  predominant  motive  has  been  to 
endeavor  to  gain  time  to  our  country,  to  settle  and  mature 
its  yet  recent  institutions,  and  to  progress,  without  inter 
ruption,  to  that  degree  of  strength  and  constancy,  which 
is  necessary  to  give  it,  humanly  speaking,  the  command 
of  its  own  fortune. 


51 

Though,  in  reviewing  the  incidents  of  my  administra 
tion,  I  am  unconscious  of  intentional  error,  I  am,  never 
theless,  too  sensible  of  my  defects  not  to  think  it  probable 
that  I  may  have  committed  many  errors.  Whatever 
they  may  be,  I  fervently  beseech  the  Almighty  to  avert 
or  mitigate  the  evils  to  which  they  may  tend.  I  shall 
also  carry  with  me  the  hope  that  my  country  will  never 
cease  to  view  them  with  indulgence ;  and  that,  after 
forty-five  years  of  my  life  dedicated  to  its  service,  with  an 
upright  zeal,  the  faults  of  incompetent  abilities  will  be 
consigned  to  oblivion,  as  myself  must  soon  be  to  the 
mansions  of  rest. 

Relying  on  its  kindness  in  this  as  in  other  things,  and 
actuated  by  that  fervent  love  towards  it,  which  is  so  nat 
ural  to  a  man  who  views  in  it  the  native  soil  of  himself 
and  his  progenitors  for  several  generations,  —  I  anticipate, 
with  pleasing  expectation,  that  retreat,  in  which  I  promise 
myself  to  realize,  without  alloy,  the  sweet  enjoyment  of 
partaking,  in  the  midst  of  my  fellow-citizens,  the  benign 
influence  of  good  laws,  under  a  free  government — the 
ever  favorite  object  of  my  heart,  and  the  happy  reward, 
as  I  trust,  of  our  mutual  cares,  labors,  and  dangers. 


J.  ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

MARCH  4,  1797. 

WHEN  it  was  first  perceived,  in  early  times,  that  no 
middle  course  for  America  remained,  between  unlimited 
submission  to  a  foreign  legislature,  and  a  total  independ 
ence  of  its  claims,  men  of  reflection  were  less  apprehen 
sive  of  danger  from  the  formidable  power  of  fleets  and 
armies  they  must  determine  to  resist,  than  from  those 
contests  and  dissensions  which  would  certainly  arise  con 
cerning  the  forms  of  government  to  be  instituted  over  the 
whole,  and  over  the  parts  of  this  extensive  country.  Re 
lying,  however,  on  the  purity  of  their  intentions,  the  justice 
of  their  cause,  and  the  integrity  and  intelligence  of  the 


52  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

people,  under  an  overruling  Providence  which  had  so 
signally  protected  this  country  from  the  first,  the  repre 
sentatives  of  this  nation,  then  consisting  of  little  more  than 
half  its  present  number,  not  only  broke  to  pieces  the  chains 
which  were  forging,  and  the  rod  of  iron  that  was  lifted  up, 
but  frankly  cut  asunder  the  ties  which  had  bound  them, 
and  launched  into  an  ocean  of  uncertainty. 

The  zeal  and  ardor  of  the  people,  during  the  revolu 
tionary  war,  supplying  the  place  of  government,  com 
manded  a  degree  of  order,  sufficient  at  least  for  the 
temporary  preservation  of  society.  The  confederation, 
which  was  early  felt  to  be  necessary,  was  prepared  from 
the  models  of  the  Batavian  and  Helvetic  confederacies  — 
the  only  examples  which  remain,  with  any  detail  and  pre 
cision  in  history,  and  certainly  the  only  ones  which  the 
people  at  large  had  ever  considered.  But,  reflecting  on 
the  striking  difference,  in  so  many  particulars,  between  this 
country  and  those  where  a  courier  may  go  from  the  seat 
of  government  to  the  frontier  in  a  single  day,  it  was  then 
certainly  foreseen,  by  some  who  assisted  in  Congress  at  the 
formation  of  it,  that  it  could  not  be  durable. 

Negligence  of  its  regulations,  inattention  to  its  recom 
mendations,  if  not  disobedience  to  its  authority,  not  only 
in  individuals,  but  in  states,  soon  appeared  with  their 
melancholy  consequences  —  universal  languor;  jealousies 
and  rivalries  of  states;  decline  of  navigation  and  com 
merce  ;  discouragement  of  necessary  manufactures ;  uni 
versal  fall  in  the  value  of  lands  and  their  produce ;  con 
tempt  of  public  and  private  faith ;  loss  of  consideration 
and  credit  with  foreign  nations;  and,  at  length,  in  dis 
contents,  animosities,  combinations,  partial  conventions, 
and  insurrection,  threatening  some  great  national  calamity. 

In  this  dangerous  crisis,  the  people  of  America  were 
not  abandoned  by  their  usual  good  sense,  presence  of 
mind,  resolution,  or  integrity.  Measures  were  pursued  to 
concert  a  plan  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish 
justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  com 
mon  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the 
blessings  of  liberty.  The  public  disquisitions,  discussions, 
and  deliberations,  issued  in  the  present  happy  constitution 
of  government. 


53 

Employed  in  the  service  of  my  country  abroad  during 
the  whole  course  of  these  transactions,  I  first  saw  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  in  a  foreign  country. 
Irritated  by  no  literary  altercation,  animated  by  no  public 
debate,  heated  by  no  party  animosity,  I  read  it  with  great 
satisfaction,  as  a  result  of  good  heads,  prompted  by  good 
hearts;  as  an  experiment  better  adapted  to  the  genius, 
character,  situation,  and  relations  of  this  nation  and 
country,  than  any  which  had  ever  been  proposed  or  sug 
gested.  In  its  general  principles  arid  great  outlines,  it 
was  conformable  to  such  a  system  of  government  as  I  had 
ever  most  esteemed,  and  some  states,  my  own  native  state 
in  particular,  had  contributed  to  establish.  Claiming  a 
right  of  suffrage,  in  common  with  my  fellow-citizens,  in 
the  adoption  or  rejection  of  a  constitution  which  was  to 
rule  me  and  my  posterity,  as  well  as  them  and  theirs,  I  did 
not  hesitate  to  express  my  approbation  of  it,  on  all  occa 
sions,  in  public  and  in  private.  It  was  not  then,  nor  has 
been  since,  any  objection  to  it,  in  my  mind,  that  the 
executive  and  senate  were  not  more  permanent.  Nor 
have  I  ever  entertained  a  thought  of  promoting  any  alter 
ation  in  it,  but  such  as  the  people  themselves,  in  the  course 
of  their  experience,  should  see  and  feel  to  be  necessary  or 
expedient,  and  by  their  representatives  in  Congress  and 
the  state  legislatures,  according  to  the  constitution  itself, 
adopt  and  ordain. 

Returning  to  the  bosom  of  my  country,  after  a  painful 
separation  from  it  for  ten  years,  I  had  the  honor  to  be 
elected  to  a  station  under  the  new  order  of  things,  and  I 
have  repeatedly  laid  myself  under  the  most  serious  obliga 
tions  to  support  the  constitution.  The  operation  of  it  has 
equalled  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  its  friends ;  and, 
from  an  habitual  attention  to  it,  satisfaction  in  its  admin 
istration,  and  delight  in  its  effects  upon  the  peace,  order, 
prosperity,  and  happiness  of  the  nation,  I  have  acquired 
an  habitual  attachment  to  it,  and  veneration  for  it. 

What  other  form  of  government,  indeed,  can  so  well 
deserve  our  esteem  and  love  ? 

There  may  be  little  solidity  in  an  ancient  idea  that  con 
gregations  of  men  into  cities  and  nations  are  the  most 
5* 


54  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

pleasing  objects  in  the  sight  of  superior  intelligences;  but 
this  is  very  certain,  that  to  a  benevolent  human  mind,  there 
can  be  no  spectacle  presented  by  any  nation  more  pleasing, 
more  noble,  majestic,  or  august,  than  an  assembly  like  that 
which  has  so  often  been  seen  in  this  and  the  other  cham 
ber  of  Congress,  of  a  government,  in  which  the  executive 
authority,  as  well  as  that  of  all  the  branches  of  the  legisla 
ture,  are  exercised  by  citizens  selected,  at  regular  periods, 
by  their  neighbors,  to  make  and  execute  laws  for  the 
general  good.  Can  any  thing  essential,  any  thing  more 
than  mere  ornament  and  decoration,  be  added  to  this  by 
robes  and  diamonds  ?  Can  authority  be  more  amiable  and 
respectable,  when  it  descends  from  accidents,  or  institutions 
established  in  remote  antiquity,  than  when  it  springs  fresh 
from  the  hearts  and  judgments  of  an  honest  and  enlightened 
people  ?  For  it  is  the  people  only  that  are  represented  :  it 
is  their  power  and  majesty  that  is  reflected,  and  only  for 
their  good,  in  every  legitimate  government,  under  what 
ever  form  it  may  appear.  The  existence  of  such  a  gov 
ernment  as  ours,  for  any  length  of  time,  is  a  full  proof  of  a 
general  dissemination  of  knowledge  and  virtue  throughout 
the  whole  body  of  the  people.  And  what  object  or  con 
sideration  more  pleasing  than  this,  can  be  presented  to  the 
human  mind  ?  If  national  pride  is  ever  justifiable,  or 
excusable,  it  is  when  it  springs  not  from  power  or 
riches,  grandeur  or  glory,  but  from  conviction  of  national 
innocence,  information,  and  benevolence. 

In  the  midst  of  these  pleasing  ideas,  we  should  be  un 
faithful  to  ourselves,  if  we  should  ever  lose  sight  of  the 
danger  to  our  liberties,  if  any  thing  partial  or  extraneous 
should  infect  the  purity  of  our  free,  fair,  virtuous,  and 
independent  elections.  If  an  election  is  to  be  determined 
by  a  majority  of  a  single  vote,  and  that  can  be  procured 
by  a  party,  through  artifice  or  corruption,  the  government 
may  be  the  choice  of  a  party,  for  its  own  ends,  not  of  the 
nation  for  the  national  good.  If  that  solitary  suffrage  can 
be  obtained  by  foreign  nations  by  flattery  or  menaces,  by 
fraud  or  violence,  by  terror,  intrigue,  or  venality,  the  gov 
ernment  may  not  be  the  choice  of  the  American  people, 
but  of  foreign  nations.  It  may  be  foreign  nations  who 


55 

govern  us,  and  not  we,  the  people,  who  govern  ourselves. 
And  candid  men  will  acknowledge,  that,  in  such  cases, 
choice  would  have  little  advantage  to  boast,  of,  over  lot  or 
chance. 

Such  is  the  amiable  and  interesting  system  of  govern 
ment  (and  such  are  some  of  the  abuses  to  which  it  may  be 
exposed)  which  the  people  of  America  have  exhibited  to 
the  admiration  and  anxiety  of  the  wise  and  virtuous  of  all 
nations  for  eight  years,  under  the  administration  of  a 
citizen  who,  by  a  long  course  of  great  actions,  regulated 
by  prudence,  justice,  temperance,  and  fortitude,  conduct 
ing  a  people,  inspired  with  the  same  virtues,  and  animated 
with  the  same  ardent  patriotism  and  love  of  liberty,  to  in 
dependence  and  peace,  to  increasing  wealth  and  unex 
ampled  prosperity,  has  merited  the  gratitude  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  commanded  the  highest  praises  of  foreign  nations, 
and  secured  immortal  glory  with  posterity. 

In  that  retirement  which  is  his  voluntary  choice,  may 
he  long  live  to  enjoy  the  delicious  recollection  of  his 
services,  the  gratitude  of  mankind,  the  happy  fruits  of 
them  to  himself  and  the  world,  which  are  daily  increasing, 
arid  that  splendid  prospect  of  the  future  fortunes  of  this 
country  which  is  opening  from  year  to  year.  His  name 
may  be  still  a  rampart,  and  the  knowledge  that  he  lives,  a 
bulwark  against  all  open  or  secret  enemies  of  his  country's 
peace.  This  example  has  been  recommended  to  the  im 
itation  of  his  successors  by  both  houses  of  Congress,  and 
by  the  voice  of  the  legislatures  and  the  people  throughout 
the  nation. 

On  this  subject  it  might  become  me  better  to  be  silent, 
or  to  speak  with  diffidence  ;  but  as  something  may  be 
expected,  the  occasion,  I  hope,  will  be  admitted  as  an 
apology,  if  I  venture  to  say,  That, 

If  a  preference,  upon  principle,  of  a  free  republican 
government,  formed  upon  long  and  serious  reflection,  after 
a  diligent  and  impartial  inquiry  after  truth ;  if  an  attach 
ment  to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  a  con 
scientious  determination  to  support  it,  until  it  shall  be 
altered  by  the  judgments  and  wishes  of  the  people,  expressed 
in  the  mode  prescribed  in  it ;  if  a  respectful  attention  to 


56  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  constitutions  of  the  individual  states,  and  a  constant 
caution  and  delicacy  towards  the  state  governments ;  if  an 
equal  and  impartial  regard  to  the  rights,  interest,  honor, 
and  happiness  of  all  the  states  in  the  Union,  without  pref 
erence  or  regard  to  a  northern  or  southern,  an  eastern  or 
western  position,  their  various  political  opinions  on  unes 
sential  points,  or  their  personal  attachments;  if  a  love  of 
virtuous  men  of  all  parties  and  denominations  ;  if  a  love  of 
science  and  letters,  and  a  wish  to  patronize  every  rational  ef 
fort  to  encourage  schools,  colleges,  universities,  academies, 
and  every  institution  for  propagating  knowledge,  virtue, 
and  religion,  among  all  classes  of  the  people,  not  only  for 
their  benign  influence  on  the  happiness  of  life  in  all  its 
stages  and  classes,  and  of  society  in  all  its  forms,  but  as 
the  only  means  of  preserving  our  constitution  from  its 
natural  enemies,  the  spirit  of  sophistry,  the  spirit  of  party, 
the  spirit  of  intrigue,  the  profligacy  of  corruption,  and  the 
pestilence  of  foreign  influence,  which  is  the  angel  of 
destruction  to  elective  governments ;  if  a  love  of  equal 
laws,  of  justice,  and  humanity  in  the  interior  administra 
tion  ;  if  'an  inclination  to  improve  agriculture,  commerce, 
and  manufactures,  for  necessity,  convenience,  and  defence  ; 
if  a  spirit  of  equity  and  humanity  towards  the  aboriginal 
nations  of  America,  and  a  disposition  to  meliorate  their 
condition  by  inclining  them  to  be  more  friendly  to  us,  and 
our  citizens  to  be  more  friendly  to  them ;  if  an  inflexible 
determination  to  maintain  peace  and  inviolable  faith  with 
all  nations,  and  that  system  of  neutrality  and  impartiality 
among  the  belligerent  powers  of  Europe  which  has  been 
adopted  by  this  government,  and  so  solemnly  sanctioned 
by  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  applauded  by  the  legis 
latures  of  the  states  and  the  public  opinion,  until  it  shall 
be  otherwise  ordained  by  Congress ;  if  a  personal  esteem 
for  the  French  nation,  formed  in  a  residence  of  seven 
years,  chiefly  among  them,  and  a  sincere  desire  to  preserve 
the  friendship  which  has  been  so  much  for  the  honor  and 
interest  of  both  nations  ;  if,  while  the  conscious  honor  and 
integrity  of  the  people  of  America,  and  the  internal  senti 
ment  of  their  own  power  and  energies  must  be  preserved, 
an  earnest  endeavor  to  investigate  every  just  cause,  and 


57 

remove  every  colorable  pretence  of  complaint ;  if  an  inten 
tion  to  pursue  by  amicable  negotiation  a  reparation  for 
the  injuries  that  have  been  committed  on  the  commerce 
of  our  fellow-citizens  by  whatever  nation ;  and  if  success 
cannot  be  obtained,  to  lay  the  facts  before  the  legislature, 
that  they  may  consider  what  further  measures  the  honor 
and  interest  of  the  government  and  its  constituents  de 
mand  ;  if  a  resolution  to  do  justice,  as  far  as  may  depend 
upon  me,  at  all  times  and  to  all  nations,  and  maintain 
peace,  friendship,  and  benevolence  with  all  the  world ;  if 
an  unshaken  confidence  in  the  honor,  spirit,  and  resources 
of  the  American  people,  on  which  I  have  so  often  hazarded 
my  all,  and  never  been  deceived ;  if  elevated  ideas  of  the 
high  destinies  of  this  country,  and  of  my  own  duties  towards 
it,  founded  on  a  knowledge  of  the  moral  principles  and  in 
tellectual  improvements  of  the  people,  deeply  engraven  on 
my  mind  in  early  life,  and  not  obscured,  but  exalted  by 
experience  and  age ;  and,  with  humble  reverence,  I  feel  it 
to  be  my  duty  to  add,  if  a  veneration  for  the  religion  of  a 
people  who  profess  and  call  themselves  Christians,  and  a 
fixed  resolution  to  consider  a  decent  respect  for  Christianity 
among  the  best  recommendations  for  the  public  service, 
can  enable  me,  in  any  degree,  to  comply  with  your  wishes, 
it  shall  be  my  strenuous  endeavor,  that  this  sagacious  in 
junction  of  the  two  houses  shall  not  be  without  effect. 

With  this  great  example  before  me,  with  the  sense  and 
spirit,  the  faith  and  honor,  the  duty  and  interest,  of  the 
same  American  people,  pledged  to  support  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States,  I  entertain  no  doubt  of  its  continu 
ance  in  all  its  energy,  and  my  mind  is  prepared,  without 
hesitation,  to  lay  myself  under  the  most  solemn  obligations 
to  support  it  to  the  utmost  of  my  power. 

And  may  that  Being  who  is  supreme  over  all,  the  Patron 
of  order,  the  Fountain  of  justice,  and  the  Protector,  in  all 
ages  of  the  world,  of  virtuous  liberty,  continue  his  blessing 
upon  this  nation  and  its  government,  and  give  it  all  possi 
ble  success  and  duration  consistent  with  the  ends  of  his 
providence. 


58  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

J.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESS. 

NOVEMBER  23,  1797. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

I  WAS  for  some  time  apprehensive  that  it  would  be 
necessary,  on  account  of  the  contagious  sickness  which 
afflicted  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  to  convene  the  national 
legislature  at  some  other  place.  This  measure  it  was 
desirable  to  avoid,  because  it  would  occasion  much  public 
inconvenience,  and  a  considerable  public  expense,  and 
add  to  the  calamities  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  city,  whose 
sufferings  must  have  excited  the  sympathy  of  all  their 
fellow-citizens ;  therefore,  after  taking  measures  to  ascer 
tain  the  state  and  decline  of  the  sickness,  I  postponed  my 
determination,  having  hopes,  now  happily  realized,  that, 
without  hazard  to  the  lives  of  the  members,  Congress 
might  assemble  at  this  place,  where  it  was  by  law  next  to 
meet.  I  submit,  however,  to  your  consideration,  whether 
a  power  to  postpone  the  meeting  of  Congress,  without 
passing  the  time  fixed  by  the  constitution,  upon  such  oc 
casions,  would  not  be  a  useful  amendment  to  the  law  of 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four. 

Although  I  cannot  yet  congratulate  you  on  the  re- 
establishment  of  peace  in  Europe,  and  the  restoration  of 
security  to  the  persons  and  properties  of  our  citizens  from 
injustice  and  violence  at  sea,  —  we  have,  nevertheless, 
abundant  cause  of  gratitude  to  the  Source  of  benevolence 
and  influence,  for  interior  tranquillity  and  personal  secu 
rity,  for  propitious  seasons,  prosperous  agriculture,  pro 
ductive  fisheries,  and  general  improvements,  and,  above 
all,  for  a  rational  spirit  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and 
a  calm  but  steady  determination  to  support  our  sover 
eignty,  as  well  as  our  moral  and  religious  principles, 
against  all  open  and  secret  attacks. 

Our  envoys  extraordinary  to  the  French  republic  em 
barked,  one  in  July,  the  other  early  in  August,  to  join 
their  colleague  in  Holland.  I  have  received  intelligence 
of  the  arrival  of  both  of  them  in  Holland,  from  whence 


59 

they  all  proceeded  on  their  journey  to  Paris,  within  a  few 
days  of  the  19th  of  September.  Whatever  may  be  the 
result  of  this  mission,  I  trust  that  nothing  will  have  been 
omitted,  on  my  part,  to  conduct  the  negotiation  to  a  suc 
cessful  conclusion,  on  such  equitable  terms  as  may  be 
compatible  with  the  safety,  honor,  and  interest  of  the 
United  States.  Nothing,  in  the  mean  time,  will  contrib 
ute  so  much  to  the  preservation  of  peace,  and  the  attain 
ment  of  justice,  as  a  manifestation  of  that  energy  and 
unanimity,  of  which,  on  many  former  occasions,  the 
people  of  the  United  States  have  given  such  memorable 
proofs,  and  the  exertion  of  those  resources  for  national 
defence  which  a  beneficent  Providence  has  kindly  placed 
within  their  power. 

It  may  be  confidently  asserted  that  nothing  has  oc 
curred,  since  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  which  renders 
inexpedient  those  precautionary  measures  recommended  by 
me  to  the  consideration  of  the  two  houses,  at  the  opening 
of  your  late  extraordinary  session.  If  that  system  was 
then  prudent,  it  is  more  so  now,  as  increasing  depreda 
tions  strengthen  the  reasons  for  its  adoption. 

Indeed,  whatever  may  be  the  issue  of  the  negotiation 
with  France,  or  whether  the  war  in  Europe  is,  or  is  not, 
to  continue,  I  hold  it  most  certain,  that  permanent  tran 
quillity  and  order  will  not  soon  be  obtained.  The  state 
of  society  has  so  long  been  disturbed,  the  sense  of  moral 
and  religious  obligations  so  much  weakened,  public  faith 
and  national  honor  have  been  so  impaired,  respect  to  trea 
ties  has  been  so  diminished,  and  the  law  of  nations  has 
lost  so  much  of  its  force,  —  while  pride,  ambition,  avarice, 
and  violence,  have  been  so  long  unrestrained,  —  there  re 
mains  no  reasonable  ground  on  which  to  raise  an  expecta 
tion,  that  a  commerce  without  protection  or  defence  will 
not  be  plundered. 

The  commerce  of  the  United  States  is  essential,  if  not 
to  their  existence,  at  least  to  their  comfort,  their  growth, 
prosperity,  and  happiness.  The  genius,  character,  and 
habits  of  the  people  are  highly  commercial ;  their  cities 
have  been  formed  and  exist  upon  commerce ;  our  agricul 
ture,  fisheries,  arts,  and  manufactures,  are  connected  with 
and  depend  upon  it.  In  short,  commerce  has  made  this 


60  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

country  what  it  is,  and  it  cannot  be  destroyed  or  neglected 
without  involving  the  people  m  poverty  and  distress. 
Great  numbers  are  directly  and  solely  supported  by  navi 
gation  ;  the  faith  of  society  is  pledged  for  the  preservation 
of  the  rights  of  commercial  and  seafaring,  no  less  than 
of  the  other  citizens.  Under  this  view  of  our  affairs,  1 
should  hold  myself  guilty  of  a  neglect  of  duty,  if  I  forbore 
to  recommend  that  we  should  make  every  exertion  to 
protect  our  commerce,  and  to  place  our  country  in  a 
suitable  posture  of  defence,  as  the  only  sure  means  of  pre 
serving  both. 

I  have  entertained  an  expectation  that  it  would  have 
been  in  my  power,  at  the  opening  of  this  session,  to  have 
communicated  to  you  the  agreeable  information  of  the 
due  execution  of  our  treaty  with  his  Catholic  majesty, 
respecting  the  withdrawing  of  his  troops  from  our  terri 
tory,  and  the  demarkation  of  the  line  of  limits;  but,  by 
the  latest  authentic  intelligence,  Spanish  garrisons  were 
still  continued  within  our  country,  and  the  running  of  the 
boundary  line  had  not  been  commenced;  these  circum 
stances  are  the  more  to  be  regretted,  as  they  cannot  fail 
to  affect  the  Indians  in  a  manner  injurious  to  the  United 
States.  Still,  however,  indulging  the  hope  that  the  an 
swers  which  have  been  given  will  remove  the  objections 
offered  by  the  Spanish  officers  to  the  immediate  execution 
of  the  treaty,  I  have  judged  it  proper  that  we  should  con 
tinue  in  readiness  to  receive  the  posts,  and  to  run  the  line 
of  limits.  Further  information  on  this  subject  will  be 
communicated  in  the  course  of  the  session. 

In  connection  with  this  unpleasant  state  of  things  on 
our  western  frontier,  it  is  proper  for  me  to  mention  the 
attempts  of  foreign  agents  to  alienate  the  affections  of  the 
Indian  nations,  and  to  excite  them  to  actual  hostilities 
against  the  United  States ;  great  activity  has  been  ex 
erted  by  those  persons  who  have  insinuated  themselves 
among  the  Indian  tribes  residing  within  the  territory  of 
the  United  States,  to  influence  them  to  transfer  their  af 
fections  and  force  to  a  foreign  nation,  to  form  them  into  a 
confederacy,  and  prepare  them  for  a  war  against  the 
United  States.  Although  measures  have  been  taken  to 
counteract  these  infractions  of  our  rights,  to  prevent  In- 


ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESS.  61 

dian  hostilities,  and  to  preserve  entire  their  attachment 
to  the  United  States,  it  is  my  duty  to  observe,  that,  to 
give  a  better  effect  to  these  measures,  and  to  obviate  the 
consequences  of  a  repetition  of  such  practices,  a  law  pro 
viding  adequate  punishment  for  such  offences  may  be 
necessary. 

The  commissioners  appointed  under  the  fifth  article  of 
the  treaty  of  amity,  commerce,  and  navigation,  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  to  ascertain  the  river 
which  was  truly  intended  under  the  name  of  the  River  St. 
Croix,  mentioned  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  met  at  Passama- 
quoddy  Bay,  in  October,  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  ninety-six,  and  viewed  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  in 
question,  and  adjacent  shores  on  the  islands;  and  being 
of  opinion,  that  actual  surveys  of  both  rivers,  to  their 
sources,  were  necessary,  gave  to  the  agents  of  the  two 
nations  instructions  for  that  purpose,  and  adjourned  to 
meet  at  Boston,  in  August.  They  met ;  but  the  surveys 
requiring  more  time  than  had  been  supposed,  and  not 
being  then  completed,  the  commissioners  again  adjourned 
to  meet  at  Providence,  in  the  state  of  Rhode  Island, 
in  June  next,  when  we  may  expect  a  final  examination 
and  decision. 

The  commissioners  appointed  in  pursuance  of  the  sixth 
article  of  the  treaty,  met  at  Philadelphia,  in  May  last,  to 
examine  the  claims  of  British  subjects  for  debts  contracted 
before  the  peace,  and  still  remaining  due  to  them  from 
citizens  or  inhabitants  of  the  United  States.  Various 
causes  have  hitherto  prevented  any  determinations;  but 
the  business  is  now  resumed,  and  doubtless  will  be  pros 
ecuted  without  interruption. 

Several  decisions  on  the  claims  of  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  for  losses  and  damages  sustained  by  reason 
of  irregular  and  illegal  captures  or  condemnations  of  their 
vessels  or  other  property,  have  been  made  by  the  com 
missioners  in  London,  conformably  to  the  seventh  article 
of  the  treaty.  The  sums  awarded  by  the  commissioners 
have  been  paid  by  the  British  government ;  a  considerable 
number  of  other  claims,  where  costs  and  damages,  and  not 
captured  property,  were  the  only  objects  in  question,  have 
6 


62  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

been  decided  by  arbitration,  and  the  sums  awarded  to  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  have  also  been  paid. 

The  commissioners  appointed  agreeably  to  the  twenty- 
first  article  of  our  treaty  with  Spain,  met  at  Philadelphia, 
in  the  summer  past,  to  examine  and  decide  on  the  claims 
of  our  citizens  for  losses  they  have  sustained  in  con 
sequence  of  their  vessels  and  cargoes  having  been  taken 
by  the  subjects  of  his  Catholic  majesty  during  the  late  war 
between  Spain  and  France.  Their  sittings  have  been 
interrupted,  but  are  now  resumed. 

The  United  States  being  obligated  to  make  compen 
sation  for  the  losses  and  damages  sustained  by  British 
subjects,  upon  the  award  of  the  commissioners  acting 
under  the  sixth  article  of  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain, 
and  for  the  losses  and  damages  sustained  by  British  sub 
jects,  by  reason  of  the  capture  of  their  vessels  and  mer 
chandise,  taken  within  the  limits  and  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States,  and  brought  into  their  ports,  or  taken  by 
vessels  originally  armed  in  ports  of  the  United  States, 
upon  the  awards  of  the  commissioners,  acting  under  the 
seventh  article  of  the  same  treaty ;  it  is  necessary  that 
provision  be  made  for  fulfilling  these  obligations. 

The  numerous  captures  of  American  vessels  by  the 
cruisers  of  the  French  republic,  and  of  some  of  those  of 
Spain,  have  occasioned  considerable  expenses  in  making 
and  supporting  the  claims  of  our  citizens  before  their 
tribunals.  The  sums  required  for  this  purpose  have,  in 
divers  instances,  been  disbursed  by  the  consuls  of  the 
United  States.  By  means  of  the  same  captures,  great 
numbers  of  our  seamen  have  been  thrown  ashore  in 
foreign  countries,  destitute  of  all  means  of  subsistence, 
and  the  sick,  in  particular,  have  been  exposed  to  grievous 
sufferings.  The  consuls  have,  in  these  cases  also,  advanced 
money  for  their  relief;  for  these  advances  they  reasonably 
expect  reimbursements  from  the  United  States. 

The  consular  act,  relative  to  seamen,  requires  revision 
and  amendment ;  the  provisions  for  their  support  in  for 
eign  countries,  and  for  their  return,  are  found  to  be  inad 
equate  and  ineffectual.  Another  provision  seems  neces 
sary  to  be  added  to  the  consular  act ;  some  foreign  vessels 


63 

have  been  discovered  sailing  under  the  flag  of  the  United 
States,  and  with  forged  papers;  it  seldom  happens  that 
the  consuls  can  detect  this  deception,  because  they  have 
no  authority  to  demand  an  inspection  of  the  registers  and 
sea-letters. 

Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  : 

It  is  my  duty  to  recommend  to  your  serious  consider 
ation,  those  objects,  which,  by  the  constitution,  are  placed 
particularly  within  your  sphere  —  the  national  debts  and 
taxes. 

Since  the  decay  of  the  feudal  system,  by  which  the 
public  defence  was  provided  for  chiefly  at  the  expense 
of  individuals,  the  system  of  loans  has  been  introduced  ; 
and  as  no  nation  can  raise  within  the  year,  by  taxes,  suf 
ficient  sums  for  the  defence  and  military  operations  in  time 
of  war,  the  sums  loaned  and  debts  contracted  have  neces 
sarily  become  the  subjects  of  what  have  been  called  funding 
systems.  The  consequences  arising  from  the  continual 
accumulation  of  public  debts  in  other  countries,  ought 
to  admonish  us  to  be  careful  to  prevent  their  growth  in 
our  own.  The  national  defence  must  be  provided  for,  as 
well  as  the  support  of  government  j  but  both  should  be 
accomplished  as  much  as  possible  by  immediate  taxes, 
and  as  little  as  possible  by  loans. 

The  estimates  for  the  service  of  the  ensuing  year  will, 
by  my  direction,  be  laid  before  you. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

We  are  met  together  at  a  most  interesting  period.  The 
situations  of  the  principal  powers  of  Europe  are  singular 
and  portentous.  Connected  with  some  by  treaties,  and 
with  all  by  commerce,  no  important  event  there  can  be 
indifferent  to  us.  Such  circumstances  call  with  peculiar 
importunity,  not  less  for  a  disposition  to  unite  in  all  those 
measures  on  which  the  honor,  safety,  and  prosperity  of 
our  country  depend,  than  for  all  the  exertions  of  wisdom 
and  firmness. 

In  all  such  measures  you  may  rely  on  my  zealous  and 
hearty  concurrence. 


64  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

JEFFERSON'S   INAUGURAL   ADDRESS. 
MARCH  4,  1801 

Friends  and  Fellow-Citizens  : 

CALLED  upon  to  undertake  the  duties  of  the  first  exec 
utive  office  of  our  country,  I  avail  myself  of  the  presence 
of  that  portion  of  my  fellow-citizens  which  is  here  assem 
bled,  to  express  my  grateful  thanks  for  the  favor  with  which 
they  have  been  pleased  to  look  towards  me,  to  declare  a 
sincere  consciousness  that  the  task  is  above  my  talents, 
and  that  I  approach  it  with  those  anxious  and  awful 
presentiments,  which  the  greatness  of  the  charge,  and  the 
weakness  of  my  powers,  so  justly  inspire.  A  rising  nation, 
spread  over  a  wide  and  fruitful  land,  traversing  all  the  seas 
with  the  rich  productions  of  their  industry,  engaged  in 
commerce  with  nations  who  feel  power  and  forget  right, 
advancing  rapidly  to  destinies  beyond  the  reach  of  mortal 
eye;  when  I  contemplate  these  transcendent  objects,  and 
see  the  honor,  the  happiness,  and  the  hopes  of  this  beloved 
country  committed  to  the  issue  and  the  auspices  of  this 
day,  I  shrink  from  the  contemplation,  and  humble  myself 
before  the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking.  Utterly  indeed 
should  I  despair,  did  not  the  presence  of  many  whom  I  here 
see  remind  me  that,  in  the  other  high  authorities  provided 
by  our  constitution,  I  shall  find  resources  of  wisdom,  of 
virtue,  and  of  zeal,  on  which  to  rely  under  all  difficulties, 
To  you,  then,  gentlemen,  who  are  charged  with  the 
sovereign  functions  of  legislation,  and  to  those  associated 
with  you,  I  look  with  encouragement  for  that  guidance 
and  support  which  may  enable  us  to  steer  with  safety  the 
vessel  in  which  we  are  all  embarked,  amid  the  conflicting 
elements  of  a  troubled  world. 

During  the  contest  of  opinion  through  which  we  have 
passed,  the  animation  of  discussion  and  exertions  has 
sometimes  worn  an  aspect  which  might  impose  on  strangers 
unused  to  think  freely,  and  to  speak  and  to  write  what  they 
think ;  but  this  being  now  decided  by  the  voice  of  the 
nation,  announced  according  to  the  rules  of  the  constitu 
tion,  all  will  of  course  arrange  themselves  under  the  will 


INAUGURAL    ADDRESS.  65 

of  the  law,  and  unite  in  common  efforts  for  the  common 
good.  All,  too,  will  bear  in  mind  this  sacred  principle,  that 
though  the  will  of  the  majority  is  in  all  cases  to  prevail, 
that  will,  to  be  rightful,  must  be  reasonable ;  that  the 
minority  possess  their  equal  rights,  which  equal  law  must 
protect,  and  to  violate  would  be  oppression.  Let  us,  then, 
fellow-citizens,  unite  with  one  heart  and  one  mind ;  let  us 
restore  to  social  intercourse  that  harmony  and  affection, 
without  which,  liberty,  and  even  life  itself,  are  but  dreary 
things.  And  let  us  reflect,  that,  having  banished  from  our 
land  that  religious  intolerance  under  which  mankind  so 
long  bled  and  suffered,  we  have  yet  gained  little,  if  we 
countenance  a  political  intolerance  as  despotic,  as  wicked, 
and  capable  of  as  bitter  and  bloody  persecutions.  During 
the  throes  and  convulsions  of  the  ancient  world,  during  the 
agonizing  spasms  of  infuriated  man,  seeking  through  blood 
and  slaughter  his  long-lost  liberty,  it  was  not  wonderful 
that  the  agitation  of  the  billows  should  reach  even  this 
distant  and  peaceful  shore  ;  that  this  should  be  more  felt 
and  feared  by  some,  and  less  by  others ;  that  this  should 
divide  opinions  as  to  measures  of  safety  ;  but  every  differ 
ence  of  opinion  is  not  a  difference  of  principle.  We  have 
called  by  different  names  brethren  of  the  same  principle. 
We  are  all  republicans ;  we  are  all  federalists.  If  there  be 
any  among  us  who  would  wish  to  dissolve  this  Union,  or  to 
change  its  republican  form,  let  them  stand  undisturbed 
as  monuments  of  the  safety  with  which  error  of  opinion 
may  be  tolerated,  where  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it. 
I  know,  indeed,  that  some  honest  men  fear  that  a  repub 
lican  government  cannot  be  strong  ;  that  this  government 
is  not  strong  enough.  But  would  the  honest  patriot,  in 
the  full  tide  of  successful  experiment,  abandon  a  govern 
ment  which  has  so  far  kept  us  free  and  firm,  on  the 
theoretic  and  visionary  fear  that  this  government,  the 
world's  best  hope,  may,  by  possibility,  want  energy  to 
preserve  itself?  I  trust  not.  I  believe  this,  on  the  contrary, 
the  strongest  government  on  earth.  I  believe  it  the  only 
one  where  every  man,  at  the  call  of  the  laws,  would  fly  to 
the  standard  of  the  law,  and  would  meet  invasions  of  the 
public  order  as  his  own  personal  concern.  Sometimes  it 
is  said  that  man  cannot  be  trusted  with  the  government  of 
6* 


66  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

himself.  Can  he,  then,  be  trusted  with  the  government 
of  others?  or  have  we  found  angels  in  the  form  of  kings, 
to  govern  him?  Let  history  answer  this  question. 

Let  us,  then,  with  courage  and  confidence,  pursue  our 
own  federal  and  republican  principles,  our  attachment  to 
our  union  and  representative  government.  Kindly  sep 
arated  by  nature  and  a  wide  ocean  from  the  exterminating 
havoc  of  one  quarter  of  the  globe  ;  too  high-minded  to 
endure  the  degradations  of  the  others;  possessing  a  chosen 
country,  with  room  enough  for  our  descendants  to  the 
thousandth  and  thousandth  generation ;  entertaining  a  due 
sense  of  our  equal  right  to  the  use  of  our  own  faculties,  to 
the  acquisitions  of  our  industry,  to  honor  and  confidence 
from  our  fellow-citizens,  resulting  not  from  birth,  but  from 
our  actions  and  their  sense  of  them ;  enlightened  by  a 
benign  religion,  professed  indeed  and  practised  in  various 
forms,  yet  all  of  them  including  honesty,  truth,  temperance, 
gratitude,  and  the  love  of  man,  acknowledging  and  adoring 
an  overruling  Providence,  which,  by  all  its  dispensations, 
proves  that  it  delights  in  the  happiness  of  man  here,  and 
his  greater  happiness  hereafter ;  with  all  these  blessings, 
what  more  is  necessary  to  make  us  a  happy  and  prosperous 
people?  Still  one  thing  more,  fellow-citizens  —  a  wise 
and  frugal  government,  which  shall  restrain  men  from 
injuring  one  another,  shall  leave  them  otherwise  free  to 
regulate  their  own  pursuits  of  industry  and  improvement, 
and  shall  not  take  from  the  mouth  of  labor  the  bread  it 
has  earned.  This  is  the  sum  of  good  government,  and 
this  is  necessary  to  close  the  circle  of  our  felicities. 

About  to  enter,  fellow-citizens,  on  the  exercise  of  duties 
which  comprehend  every  thing  dear  and  valuable  to  you, 
it  is  proper  that  you  should  understand  what  I  deem  the 
essential  principles  of  our  government,  and  consequently 
those  which  ought  to  shape  its  administration.  I  will 
compress  them  within  the  narrowest  compass  they  will 
bear,  stating  the  general  principles,  but  not  all  its  limita 
tions —  Equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  men,  of  whatever 
state  or  persuasion,  religious  or  political ;  peace,  commerce, 
and  honest  friendship  with  all  nations,  entangling  alliances 
with  none ;  the  support  of  the  state  governments  in  all 
their  rights,  as  the  most  competent  administration  for  our 


JEFFERSON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  67 

domestic  concerns,  and  the  surest  bulwarks  against  anti- 
republicari  tendencies ;  the  preservation  of  the  general 
government  in  its  whole  constitutional  vigor,  as  the  sheet- 
anchor  of  our  peace  at  home  and  safety  abroad ;  a  jealous 
care  of  the  right  of  election  by  the  people ;  a  mild  and 
safe  corrective  of  abuses,  which  are  lopped  by  the  sword 
of  revolution,  where  peaceable  remedies  are  unprovided  ; 
absolute  acquiescence  in  the  decisions  of  the  majority,  the 
vital  principle  of  republics,  from  which  is  no  appeal  but 
to  force,  the  vital  principle  and  immediate  parent  of  des 
potism  ;  a  well-disciplined  militia,  our  best  reliance  in 
peace,  and  for  the  first  moments  of  war,  till  regulars  may 
relieve  them  ;  the  supremacy  of  the  civil  over  the  military 
authority ;  economy  in  the  public  expense,  that  labor  may 
be  lightly  burdened ;  the  honest  payment  of  our  debts,  and 
sacred  preservation  of  the  public  faith  ;  encouragement  of 
agriculture,  and  of  commerce  as  its  handmaid ;  the  dif 
fusion  of  information,  and  arraignment  of  all  abuses  at 
the  bar  of  public  reason ;  freedom  of  religion ;  freedom 
of  the  press ;  and  freedom  of  person,  under  the  protection  of 
the  habeas  corpus ;  and  trial  by  juries  impartially  selected. 
These  principles  form  the  bright  constellation  which  has 
gone  before  us,  and  guided  our  steps  through  an  age  of 
revolution  and  reformation.  The  wisdom  of  our  sages 
and  blood  of  our  heroes  have  been  devoted  to  their  attain 
ment :  they  should  be  the  creed  of  our  political  faith;  the 
text  of  civil  instruction ;  the  touchstone  by  which  to  try 
the  services  of  those  we  trust ;  and  should  we  wander  from 
them  in  moments  of  error  or  alarm,  let  us  hasten  to  retrace 
our  steps,  and  to  regain  the  road  which  alone  leads  to 
peace,  liberty,  and  safety. 

I  repair,  then,  fellow-citizens,  to  the  post  you  have 
assigned  me.  With  experience  enough  in  subordinate 
offices  to  have  seen  the  difficulties  of  this,  the  greatest 
of  all,  I  have  learnt  to  expect  that  it  will  rarely  fall  to 
the  lot  of  imperfect  man  to  retire  from  this  station  with 
the  reputation  and  the  favor  which  bring  him  into  it. 
Without  pretensions  to  that  high  confidence  you  reposed 
in  our  first  and  great  revolutionary  character,  whose  pre 
eminent  services  had  entitled  him  to  the  first  place  in  his 
country's  love,  and  destined  for  him  the  fairest  page  in 
the  volume  of  faithful  history,  I  ask  so  much  confidence 


68  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

only  as  may  give  firmness  and  effect  to  the  legal  adminis 
tration  of  your  affairs.  1  shall  often  go  wrong  through 
defect  of  judgment.  When  right,  I  shall  often  be  thought 
wrong  by  those  whose  positions  will  not  command  a  view 
of  the  whole  ground.  I  ask  your  indulgence  for  my  own 
errors,  which  will  never  be  intentional ;  and  your  support 
against  the  errors  of  others,  who  may  condemn  what  they 
would  not,  if  seen  in  all  its  parts.  The  approbation  im 
plied  by  your  suffrage  is  a  consolation  to  me  for  the  past ; 
and  my  future  solicitude  will  be  to  retain  the  good  opinion 
of  those  who  have  bestowed  it  in  advance,  to  conciliate 
that  of  others  by  doing  them  all  the  good  in  my  power, 
and  to  be  instrumental  to  the  happiness  and  freedom  of  all. 
Relying,  then,  on  the  patronage  of  your  good-will,  I 
advance  with  obedience  to  the  work,  ready  to  retire  from 
it  whenever  you  become  sensible  how  much  better  choice 
it  is  in  your  power  to  make.  And  may  that  infinite 
Power  which  rules  the  destinies  of  the  universe,  lead  our 
councils  to  what  is  best,  and  give  them  a  favorable  issue 
for  your  peace  and  prosperity. 


DECEMBER  8,  1801. 

SIR  :  The  circumstances  under  which  we  find  ourselves 
at  this  place  rendering  inconvenient  the  mode  heretofore 
practised,  of  making  by  personal  address  the  first  com 
munication  between  the  legislative  and  executive  branches, 
I  have  adopted  that  by  message,  as  used  on  all  subsequent 
occasions  through  the  session.  In  doing  this,  I  have  had 
principal  regard  to  the  convenience  of  the  legislature,  to 
the  economy  of  their  time,  to  their  relief  from  the  embar 
rassment  of  immediate  answers  on  subjects  not  yet  fully 
before  them,  and  to  the  benefits  thence  resulting  to  the 
public  affairs.  Trusting  that  a  procedure  founded  in  these 
motives  will  meet  their  approbation,  I  beg  leave,  through 
you,  sir,  to  communicate  the  enclosed  message,  with  the 
documents  accompanying  it,  to  the  honorable  the  Senate, 
and  pray  you  to  accept,  for  yourself  and  them,  the  homage 
of  my  high  respect  and  consideration. 

THOMAS   JEFFERSON. 

The  Honorable  the 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  SENATE. 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN.  69 

JEFFERSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

DECEMBER  8,  1801. 

Fellow -Citizens  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

IT  is  a  circumstance  of  sincere  gratification  to  me  that, 
on  meeting  the  great  council  of  our  nation,  I  am  able  to 
announce  to  them,  on  grounds  of  reasonable  certainty, 
that  the  wars  and  troubles  which  have  for  so  many  years 
afflicted  our  sister  nations,  have  at  length  come  to  an  end, 
and  that  the  communications  of  peace  and  commerce  are 
once  more  opening  among  them.  Whilst  we  devoutly 
return  thanks  to  the  beneficent  Being  who  has  been 
pleased  to  breathe  into  them  the  spirit  of  conciliation  and 
forgiveness,  we  are  bound,  with  peculiar  gratitude,  to  be 
thankful  to  him  that  our  own  peace  has  been  preserved 
through  so  perilous  a  season,  and  ourselves  permitted 
quietly  to  cultivate  the  earth,  and  to  practise  and  improve 
those  arts  which  tend  to  increase  our  comforts.  Thp 
assurances,  indeed,  of  friendly  disposition,  received  from  all 
the  powers  with  whom  we  have  principal  relations,  had 
inspired  a  confidence  jthat  our  peace  with  them  would  not 
have  been  disturbed.  But  a  cessation  of  irregularities 
which  had  affected  the  commerce  of  neutral  nations,  and 
of  the  irritations  and  injuries  produced  by  them,  cannot 
but  add  to  this  confidence,  and  strengthens,  at  the  same 
time,  the  hope  that  wrongs  committed  on  unoffending 
friends,  under  a  pressure  of  circumstances,  will  now  be 
reviewed  with  candor,  and  will  be  considered  as  founding 
just  claims  of  retribution  for  the  past,  and  new  assurances 
for  the  future. 

Among  our  Indian  neighbors,  also,  a  spirit  of  peace 
and  friendship  generally  prevails ;  and  I  am  happy  to 
inform  you  that  the  continued  efforts  to  introduce  among 
them  the  implements  and  the  practice  of  husbandry  and 
of  the  household  arts,  have  not  been  without  success ; 
that  they  are  becoming  more  and  more  sensible  of  the 
superiority  of  this  dependence  for  clothing  and  subsist 
ence,  over  the  precarious  resources  of  hunting  and  fish- 


70  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

ing ;  and  already  we  are  able  to  announce  that,  instead  of 
that  constant  diminution  of  their  numbers,  produced  by 
their  wars  and  their  wants,  some  of  them  begin  to  expe 
rience  an  increase  of  population. 

To  this  state  of  general  peace  with  which  we  have  been 
blessed,  one  only  exception  exists.  Tripoli,  the  least  con 
siderable  of  the  Barbary  states,  had  come  forward  with 
demands  unfounded  either  in  right  or  in  compact,  and  had 
permitted  itself  to  denounce  war,  on  our  failure  to  comply 
before  a  given  day.  The  style  of  the  demand  admitted 
but  one  answer.  I  sent  a  small  squadron  of  frigates  into 
the  Mediterranean,  with  assurances  to  that  power  of  our 
sincere  desire  to  remain  in  peace :  but  with  orders  to  pro 
tect  our  commerce  against  the  threatened  attack.  The 
measure  was  seasonable  and  salutary.  The  Bey  had 
already  declared  war.  His  cruisers  were  out.  Two  had 
arrived  at  Gibraltar.  Our  commerce  in  the  Mediterranean 
was  blockaded,  and  that  of  the  Atlantic  in  peril.  The  ar 
rival  of  our  squadron  dispelled  the  danger.  One  of  the 
Tripolitan  cruisers,  having  fallen  in  with  and  engaged  the 
small  schooner  Enterprise,  commanded  by  Lieut.  Sterret, 
which  had  gone  as  a  tender  to  our  larger  vessels,  was  cap 
tured,  after  a  heavy  slaughter  of  her  men,  without  the  loss 
of  a  single  one  on  our  part.  The  bravery  exhibited  by 
our  citizens  on  that  element  w?K,  I  trust,  be  a  testimony 
to  the  world  that  it  is  not  the  want  of  that  virtue  which 
makes  us  seek  their  peace,  but  a  conscientious  desire  to 
direct  the  energies  of  our  nation  to  the  multiplication  of 
the  human  race,  and  not  to  its  destruction.  Unauthorized 
by  the  constitution,  without  the  sanction  of  Congress,  to 
go  beyond  the  line  of  defence,  the  vessel,  being  disabled 
from  committing  further  hostilities,  was  liberated  with  its 
crew.  The  legislature  will  doubtless  consider  whether,  by 
authorizing  measures  of  offence  also,  they  will  place  our 
force  on  an  equal  footing  with  that  of  its  adversaries.  1 
communicate  all  material  information  on  this  subject,  that, 
in  the  exercise  of  this  important  function  confided  by  the 
constitution  to  the  legislature  exclusively,  their  judgment 
may  form  itself  on  a  knowledge  and  consideration  of  every 
circumstance  of  weight. 

I  wish  I  could  say  that  our  situation  with  all  the  other 


71 

Barbary  states  was  entirely  satisfactory.  Discovering  that 
some  delays  had  taken  place  in  the  performance  of  certain 
articles  stipulated  by  us,  I  thought  it  my  duty,  by  immedi 
ate  measures  for  fulfilling  them,  to  vindicate  to  ourselves 
the  right  of  considering  the  effect  of  departure  from  stipu 
lation  on  their  side.  From  the  papers  which  will  be  laid 
before  you,  you  will  be  enabled  to  judge  whether  our 
treaties  are  regarded  by  them  as  fixing  at  all  the  measure 
of  their  demands,  or  as  guarding  from  the  exercise  of  force 
our  vessels  within  their  power ;  and  to  consider  how  far  it 
will  be  safe  and  expedient  to  leave  our  affairs  with  them  in 
their  present  posture. 

I  lay  before  you  the  result  of  the  census  lately  taken  of 
our  inhabitants,  to  a  conformity  with  which  we  are  now  to 
reduce  the  ensuing  ratio  of  representation  and  taxation. 
You  will  perceive  that  the  increase  of  numbers,  during  the 
last  ten  years,  proceeding  in  geometrical  ratio,  promises 
a  duplication  in  little  more  than  twenty-two  years.  We 
contemplate  this  rapid  growth,  and  the  prospect  it  holds  up 
to  us,  not  with  a  view  to  the  injuries  it  may  enable  us  to 
do  to  others  in  some  future  day,  but  to  the  settlement  of 
the  extensive  country  still  remaining  vacant  within  our 
limits,  to  the  multiplication  of  men  susceptible  of  happi 
ness,  educated  in  the  love  of  order,  habituated  to  self- 
government,  and  valuing  its  blessings  above  all  price. 

Other  circumstances,  combined  with  the  increase  of 
numbers,  have  produced  an  augmentation  of  revenue 
arising  from  consumption,  in  a  ratio  far  beyond  that  of 
population  alone;  and,  though  the  changes  of  foreign 
relations  now  taking  place,  so  desirable  for  the  world,  may 
for  a  season  affect  this  branch  of  revenue,  yet,  weighing 
all  probabilities  of  expense,  as  well  as  of  income,  there  is 
reasonable  ground  of  confidence  that  we  may  now  safely 
dispense  with  all  the  internal  taxes  —  comprehending  ex 
cise,  stamps,  auctions,  licenses,  carriages,  and  refined 
sugars;  to  which  the  postage  on  newspapers  may  be 
added,  to  facilitate  the  progress  of  information ;  and  that 
the  remaining  sources  of  revenue  will  be  sufficient  to  pro 
vide  for  the  support  of  government,  to  pay  the  interest  of 
the  public  debts,  and  to  discharge  the  principals  within 
shorter  periods  than  the  laws  of  the  general  expectation 


72  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

had  contemplated.  War,  indeed,  and  untoward  events, 
may  change  this  prospect  of  things,  and  call  for  expenses 
which  the°imposts  could  not  meet.  But  sound  principles 
will  not  justify  our  taxing  the  industry  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  to  accumulate  treasure  for  wars  to  happen  we 
know  not  when,  and  which  might  not  perhaps  happen, 
but  from  the  temptations  offered  by  that  treasure. 

These  views,  however,  of  reducing  our  burdens,  are 
formed  on  the  expectation  that  a  sensible,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  a  salutary  reduction  may  take  place  in  our  habitual 
expenditures.  For  this  purpose,  those  of  the  civil  govern 
ment,  the  army,  and  navy,  will  need  revisal.  When  we 
consider  that  this  government  is  charged  with  the  external 
and  mutual  relations  only  of  these  states ;  that  the  states 
themselves  have  principal  care  of  our  persons,  our  prop 
erty,  and  our  reputation,  constituting  the  great  field  of 
human  concerns,  we  may  well  doubt  whether  our  organiza 
tion  is  not  too  complicated,  too  expensive;  whether  offices 
and  officers  have  not  been  multiplied  unnecessarily,  and 
sometimes  injuriously  to  the  service  they  were  meant  to 
promote.  I  will  cause  to  be  laid  before  you  an  essay  to 
wards  a  statement  of  those  who,  under  public  employment 
of  various  kinds,  draw  money  from  the  treasury,  or  from  our 
citizens.  Time  has  not  permitted  a  perfect  enumeration, 
the  ramifications  of  office  being  too  multiplied  and  remote 
to  be  completely  traced  in  a  first  trial.  Among  those  who 
are  dependent  on  executive  discretion,  I  have  begun  the 
reduction  of  what  was  deemed  necessary.  The  expenses 
of  diplomatic  agency  have  been  considerably  diminished. 
The  inspectors  of  internal  revenue,  who  were  found  to  ob 
struct  the  accountability  of  the  institution,  have  been  dis 
continued.  Several  agencies,  created  by  executive  author 
ity,  on  salaries  fixed  by  that  also,  have  been  suppressed, 
and  should  suggest  the  expediency  of  regulating  that  power 
by  law,  so  as  to  subject  its  exercises  to  legislative  inspec 
tion  and  sanction.  Other  reformations  of  the  same  kind 
will  be  pursued  with  that  caution  which  is  requisite,  in 
removing  useless  things,  not  to  injure  what  is  retained. 
But  the  great  mass  of  public  offices  is  established  by  law, 
and  therefore  by  law  alone  can  be  abolished.  Should  the 
legislature  think  it  expedient  to  pass  this  roll  in  review, 


JEFFERSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          73 

and  try  all  its  parts  by  the  test  of  public  utility,  they  may 
be  assured  of  every  aid  and  light  which  executive  informa 
tion  can  yield.  Considering  the  general  tendency  to  mul 
tiply  offices  and  dependencies,  and  to  increase  expense  to 
the  ultimate  term  of  burden  which  the  citizen  can  bear,  it 
behoves  us  to  avail  ourselves  of  every  occasion  which 
presents  itself  for  taking  off  the  surcharge;  that  it  never 
may  be  seen  here  that,  after  leaving  to  labor  the  smallest 
portion  of  its  earnings  on  which  it  can  subsist,  govern 
ment  shall  itself  consume  the  whole  residue  of  what  it 
was  instituted  to  guard. 

In  our  care,  too,  of  the  public  contributions  intrusted 
to  our  direction,  it  would  be  prudent  to  multiply  barriers 
against  their  dissipation,  by  appropriating  specific  sums  to 
every  specific  purpose  susceptible  of  definition;  by  dis 
allowing  all  applications  of  money  varying  from  the  appro 
priation  in  object,  or  transcending  it  in  amount ;  by  re 
ducing  the  undefined  field  of  contingencies,  and  thereby 
circumscribing  discretionary  powers  over  money ;  and  by 
bringing  back  to  a  single  department  all  accountabilities 
for  money,  where  the  examinations  may  be  prompt,  effi 
cacious,  and  uniform. 

An  account  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  last 
year,  as  prepared  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  will, 
as  usual,  be  laid  before  you.  The  success  which  has  at 
tended  the  late  sales  of  the  public  lands  shows  that,  with 
attention,  they  may  be  made  an  important  source  of  re 
ceipt.  Among  the  payments,  those  made  in  discharge  of 
the  principal  and  interest  of  the  national  debt,  will  show 
that  the  public  faith  has  been  exactly  maintained.  To 
these  will  be  added  an  estimate  of  appropriations  neces 
sary  for  the  ensuing  year.  This  last  will,  of  course,  be 
effected  by  such  modifications  of  the  system  of  expense 
as  you  shall  think  proper  to  adopt. 

A  statement  has  been  formed  by  the  Secretary  of  War, 
on  mature  consideration,  of  all  the  posts  and  stations 
where  garrisons  will  be  expedient,  and  of  the  number  of 
men  requisite  for  each  garrison.  The  whole  amount  is 
considerably  short  of  the  present  military  establishment. 
For  the  surplus,  no  particular  use  can  be  pointed  out. 
For  defence  against  invasion,  their  number  is  as  nothing ; 


74  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

nor  is  it  conceived  needful  or  safe  that  a  standing  army 
should  be  kept  up  in  time  of  peace  for  that  purpose.  Un 
certain  as  we  must  ever  be  of  the  particular  point  in  our 
circumference  where  an  enemy  may  choose  to  invade  us, 
the  only  force  which  can  be  ready  at  every  point,  and 
competent  to  oppose  them,  is  the  body  of  neighboring 
citizens,  as  formed  into  a  militia.  On  these,  collected 
from  the  parts  most  convenient,  in  numbers  proportioned 
to  the  invading  foe,  it  is  best  to  rely,  not  only  to  meet  the 
first  attack,  but,  if  it  threatens  to  be  permanent,  to  main 
tain  the  defence  until  regulars  may  be  engaged  to  relieve 
them.  These  considerations  render  it  important  that  we 
should,  at  every  session,  continue  to  amend  the  defects 
which  from  time  to  time  show  themselves  in  the  laws  for 
regulating  the  militia,  until  they  are  sufficiently  perfect; 
nor  should  we  now,  or  at  any  time,  separate  until  we  can 
say  we  have  done  every  thing  for  the  militia  which  we 
could  do  were  an  enemy  at  our  door. 

The  provision  of  military  stores  on  hand  will  be  laid  be 
fore  you,  that  you  may  judge  of  the  additions  still  requisite. 

With  respect  to  the  extent  to  which  our  naval  prepara 
tions  should  be  carried,  some  difference  of  opinion  may 
be  expected  to  appear  ;  but  just  attention  to  the  circum 
stances  of  every  part  of  the  Union  will  doubtless  reconcile 
all.  A  small  force  will  probably  continue  to  be  wanted 
for  actual  service  in  the  Mediterranean.  Whatever  annual 
sum  beyond  that  you  may  think  proper  to  appropriate  for 
naval  preparations,  would  perhaps  be  better  employed  in 
providing  those  articles  which  may  be  kept  without  waste 
or  consumption,  and  be  in  readiness  when  any  exigency 
calls  them  into  use.  Progress  has  been  made,  as  will  ap 
pear  by  papers  now  communicated,  in  providing  materials 
for  seventy-four  gun  ships,  as  directed  by  law. 

How  far  the  authority  given  by  the  legislature  for  pro 
curing  and  establishing  sites  for  naval  purposes  has  been 
perfectly  understood  and  pursued  in  the  execution,  admits 
of  some  doubt.  A  statement  of  the  expenses  already  in 
curred  on  that  subject  is  now  laid  before  you.  I  have,  in 
certain  cases,  suspended  or  slackened  these  expenditures, 
that  the  legislature  might  determine  whether  so  many 
yards  are  necessary  as  have  been  contemplated.  The 


75 

works  at  this  place  are  among  those  permitted  to  go  on ; 
and  five  of  the  seven  frigates  directed  to  be  laid  up,  have 
been  brought  and  laid  up  here,  where,  besides  the  safety 
of  their  position,  they  are  under  the  eye  of  the  executive 
administration,  as  well  as  of  its  agents,  and  where  your 
selves  also  will  be  guided  by  your  own  view  in  the  legis 
lative  provisions  respecting  them  which  may  from  time  to 
time  be  necessary.  They  are  preserved  in  such  condition, 
as  well  the  vessels  as  whatever  belongs  to  them,  as  to 
be  at  all  times  ready  for  sea  on  a  short  warning.  Two 
others  are  yet  to  be  laid  up  so  soon  as  they  shall  have 
received  the  repairs  requisite  to  put  them  also  into  sound 
condition.  As  a  superintending  officer  will  be  necessary 
at  each  yard,  his  duties  and  emoluments,  hitherto  fixed 
by  the  executive,  will  be  a  more  proper  subject  for  legis 
lation.  A  communication  will  also  be  made  of  our  prog 
ress  in  the  execution  of  the  law  respecting  the  vessels 
directed  to  be  sold. 

The  fortifications  of  our  harbors,  more  or  less  advanced, 
present  considerations  of  great  difficulty.  While  some  of 
them  are  on  a  scale  sufficiently  proportioned  to  the  ad 
vantages  of  their  position,  to  the  efficacy  of  their  protec 
tion,  and  the  importance  of  the  points  within  it,  others  are 
so  extensive,  will  cost  so  much  in  their  first  erection,  so 
much  in  their  maintenance,  and  require  such  a  force 
to  garrison  them,  as  to  make  it  questionable  what  is  best 
now  to  be  done.  A  statement  of  those  commenced  or 
projected,  of  the  expenses  already  incurred,  and  estimates 
of  their  future  cost,  so  far  as  can  be  foreseen,  shall  be 
laid  before  you,  that  you  may  be  enabled  to  judge 
whether  any  alteration  is  necessary  in  the  laws  respect 
ing  this  subject. 

Agriculture,  manufactures,  commerce,  and  navigation, 
the  four  pillars  of  our  prosperity,  are  then  most  thriving 
when  left  most  free  to  individual  enterprise.  Protection 
from  casual  embarrassments,  however,  may  sometimes  be 
seasonably  interposed.  If,  in  the  course  of  your  observa 
tions  or  inquiries,  they  should  appear  to  need  any  aid 
within  the  limits  of  our  constitutional  powers,  your  sense 
of  their  importance  is  a  sufficient  assurance  they  will 
occupy  your  attention.  We  cannot,  indeed,  but  all  feel  an 


76  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

anxious  solicitude  for  the  difficulties  under  which  our 
carrying  trade  will  soon  be  placed.  How  far  it  can  be 
relieved,  otherwise  than  by  time,  is  a  subject  of  important 
consideration. 

The  judiciary  system  of  the  United  States,  and  espe 
cially  that  portion  of  it  recently  erected,  will,  of  course, 
present  itself  to  the  contemplation  of  Congress;  and  that 
they  may  be  able  to  judge  of  the  proportion  which  the 
institution  bears  to  the  business  it  has  to  perform,  I  have 
caused  to  be  procured  from  the  several  states,  and  now 
lay  before  Congress,  an  exact  statement  of  all  the  causes 
decided  since  the  first  establishment  of  the  courts,  and  of 
those  which  were  depending  when  additional  courts  and 
judges  were  brought  in  to  their  aid. 

And,  while  on  the  judiciary  organization,  it  will  be 
worthy  your  consideration,  whether  the  protection  of  the 
inestimable  institution  of  juries  has  been  extended  to  all 
the  cases  involving  the  security  of  our  persons  and  prop 
erty.  Their  impartial  selection  also  being  essential  to 
their  value,  we  ought  further  to  consider  whether  that  is 
sufficiently  secured  in  those  states  where  they  are  named 
by  a  marshal  depending  on  executive  will,  or  designated 
by  the  court,  or  by  officers  dependent  on  them. 

I  cannot  omit  recommending  a  revisal  of  the  laws  on 
the  subject  of  naturalization.  Considering  the  ordinary 
chances  of  human  life,  a  denial  of  citizenship  under  a 
residence  of  fourteen  years,  is  a  denial  to  a  great  propor 
tion  of  those  who  ask  it;  and  controls  a  policy  pursued, 
from  their  first  settlement,  by  many  of  these  states,  and 
still  believed  of  consequence  to  their  prosperity.  And 
shall  we  refuse  the  unhappy  fugitives  from  distress  that 
hospitality  which  the  savages  of  the  wilderness  extended 
to  our  fathers  arriving  in  this  land  ?  Shall  oppressed 
humanity  find  no  asylum  on  this  globe?  The  constitu 
tion,  indeed,  has  wisely  provided  that,  for  admission  to 
certain  offices  of  important  trust,  a  residence  shall  be  re 
quired  sufficient  to  develop  character  and  design.  But 
might  not  the  general  character  and  capabilities  of  a  citi 
zen  be  safely  communicated  to  every  one  manifesting  a 
bona  fide  purpose  of  embarking  his  life  and  fortunes  per 
manently  with  us  1  with  restrictions,  perhaps,  to  guard 


77 

against  fraudulent  usurpations  of  our  flag  —  an  abuse 
which  brings  so  much  embarrassment  and  loss  on  the 
genuine  citizen,  and  so  much  danger  to  the  nation  of  be 
ing  involved  in  war,  that  no  endeavor  should  be  spared 
to  detect  and  suppress  it. 

These,  fellow-citizens,  are  the  matters  respecting  the 
state  of  the  nation  which  I  have  thought  of  importance  to 
be  submitted  to  your  consideration  at  this  time.  Some 
others,  of  less  moment,  or  not  yet  ready  for  communica 
tion,  will  be  the  subject  of  separate  messages.  I  am 
happy  in  this  opportunity  of  committing  the  arduous 
affairs  of  our  government  to  the  collected  wisdom  of  the 
Union.  Nothing  shall  be  wanting  on  my  part  to  inform, 
as  far  as  in  my  power,  the  legislative  judgment,  nor  to 
carry  that  judgment  into  faithful  execution.  The  pru 
dence  and  temperance  of  your  discussions  will  promote, 
within  your  own  walls,  that  conciliation  which  so  much 
befriends  rational  conclusion ;  and  by  its  example  will 
encourage  among  our  constituents  that  progress  of  opin 
ion  which  is  tending  to  unite  them  in  object  and  will. 
That  all  should  be  satisfied  with  any  one  order  of  things 
is  not  to  be  expected  ;  but  I  indulge  the  pleasing  persua 
sion,  that  the  great  body  of  our  citizens  will  cordially 
concur  in  honest  and  disinterested  efforts,  which  have  for 
their  object  to  preserve  the  general  and  state  governments 
in  their  constitutional  form  and  equilibrium;  to  maintain 
peace  abroad,  and  order  and  obedience  to  the  laws  at 
home ;  to  establish  principles  and  practices  of  adminis 
tration  favorable  to  the  security  of  liberty  and  property, 
and  to  reduce  expenses  to  what  is  necessary  for  the  use 
ful  purposes  of  government. 


MADISON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

MARCH  4,  1809. 

UNWILLING  to  depart  from  examples  of  the  most  revered 
authority,  I  avail  myself  of  the  occasion  now  presented, 
to  express  the  profound  impression  made  on  me  by  the 


78  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

call  of  my  country  to  the  station,  to  the  duties  of  which  I 
am  about  to  pledge  myself  by  the  most  solemn  of  sanc 
tions.  So  distinguished  a  mark  of  confidence,  proceed 
ing  from  the  deliberate  and  tranquil  suffrage  of  a  free  and 
virtuous  nation,  would,  under  any  circumstances,  have 
commanded  my  gratitude  and  devotion,  as  well  as  filled 
me  with  an  awful  sense  of  the  trust  to  be  assumed.  Un 
der  the  various  circumstances  which  give  peculiar  solem 
nity  to  the  existing  period,  I  feel  that  both  the  honor  and  the 
responsibility  allotted  to  me  are  inexpressibly  enhanced. 

The  present  situation  of  the  world  is  indeed  without  a 
parallel ;  and  that  of  our  own  country  full  of  difficulties. 
The  pressure  of  these,  too,  is  the  more  severely  felt,  be 
cause  they  have  fallen  upon  us  at  a  moment  when,  the 
national  prosperity  being  at  a  height  not  before  attained, 
the  contrast  resulting  from  the  change  has  been  rendered 
the  more  striking.  Under  the  benign  influence  of  our 
republican  institutions,  and  the  maintenance  of  peace 
with  all  nations,  whilst  so  many  of  them  were  engaged  in 
bloody  and  wasteful  wars,  the  fruits  of  a  just  policy  were 
enjoyed  in  an  unrivalled  growth  of  our  faculties  and  re 
sources.  Proofs  of  this  were  seen  in  the  improvements 
of  agriculture  ;  in  the  successful  enterprises  of  commerce ; 
in  the  progress  of  manufactures  and  useful  arts;  in  the 
increase  of  the  public  revenue,  and  the  use  made  of  it  in 
reducing  the  public  debt;  and  in  the  valuable  works  and 
establishments  every  where  multiplying  over  the  face  of 
our  land. 

It  is  a  precious  reflection  that  the  transition  from  this 
prosperous  condition  of  our  country,  to  the  scene  which 
has  for  some  time  been  distressing  us,  is  not  chargeable 
on  any  unwarrantable  views,  nor,  as  I  trust,  on  any  in 
voluntary  errors  in  the  public  councils.  Indulging  no 
passions  which  trespass  on  the  rights  or  repose  of  other 
nations,  it  has  been  the  true  glory  of  the  United  States  to 
cultivate  peace  by  observing  justice  ;  and  to  entitle  them 
selves  to  the  respect  of  the  nations  at  war,  by  fulfilling 
their  neutral  obligations  with  the  most  scrupulous  impar 
tiality.  If  there  be  candor  in  the  world,  the  truth  of  these 
assertions  will  not  be  questioned ;  posterity,  at  least,  will 
do  justice  to  them. 


79 

This  unexceptionable  course  could  not  avail  against 
the  injustice  and  violence  of  the  belligerent  powers.  In 
their  rage  against  each  other,  or  impelled  by  more  direct 
motives,  principles  of  retaliation  have  been  introduced, 
equally  contrary  to  universal  reason  and  acknowledged 
law.  How  long  their  arbitrary  edicts  will  be  continued, 
in  spite  of  the  demonstrations  that  not  even  a  pretext  for 
them  has  been  given  by  the  United  States,  and  of  the  fair 
and  liberal  attempt  to  induce  a  revocation  of  them,  cannot 
be  anticipated.  Assuring  myself  that,  under  every  vicis 
situde,  the  determined  spirit  and  united  councils  of  the 
nation  will  be  safeguards  to  its  honor  and  its  essential 
interests,  I  repair  to  the  post  assigned  me  with  no  other 
discouragement  than  what  springs  from  my  own  inade 
quacy  to  its  high  duties.  If  I  do  not  sink  under  the  weight 
of  this  deep  conviction,  it  is  because  I  find  some  support  in 
a  consciousness  of  the  purposes,  and  a  confidence  in  the 
principles,  which  I  bring  with  me  into  this  arduous  service. 

To  cherish  peace  and  friendly  intercourse  with  all  na 
tions  having  correspondent  dispositions ;  to  maintain  sin 
cere  neutrality  towards  belligerent  nations  ;  to  prefer  in  all 
cases  amicable  discussion  and  reasonable  accommodation 
of  differences  to  a  decision  of  them  by  an  appeal  to  arms ; 
to  exclude  foreign  intrigues  and  foreign  partialities,  so 
degrading  to  all  countries,  and  so  baneful  to  free  ones ;  to 
foster  a  spirit  of  independence,  too  just  to  invade  the  rights 
of  others,  too  proud  to  surrender  our  own,  too  liberal  to 
indulge  unworthy  prejudices  ourselves,  and  too  elevated 
not  to  look  down  upon  them  in  others ;  to  hold  the  union 
of  the  states  as  the  basis  of  their  peace  and  happiness ;  to 
support  the  constitution,  which  is  the  cement  of  the  Union, 
as  well  in  its  limitations  as  in  its  authorities ;  to  respect 
the  rights  and  authorities  reserved  to  the  states  and  to  the 
people,  as  equally  incorporated  with,  and  essential  to  the 
success  of,  the  general  system ;  to  avoid  the  slightest  in 
terference  with  the  rights  of  conscience,  or  the  functions 
of  religion,  so  wisely  exempted  from  civil  jurisdiction;  to 
preserve,  in  their  full  energy,  the  other  salutary  provisions 
in  behalf  of  private  and  personal  rights,  and  of  the  free 
dom  of  the  press ;  to  observe  economy  in  public  expend 
itures;  to  liberate  the  public  resources  by  an  honorable 


80  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

discharge  of  the  public  debts;  to  keep  within  the  requisite 
limits  a  standing  military  force,  always  remembering  that 
an  armed  and  trained  militia  is  the  firmest  bulwark  of 
republics  —  that,  without  standing  armies,  their  liberty  can 
never  be  in  danger,  nor  with  large  ones  safe ;  to  promote, 
by  authorized  means,  improvements  friendly  to  agricul 
ture,  to  manufactures,  and  to  external  as  well  as  internal 
commerce ;  to  favor,  in  like  manner,  the  advancement 
of  science  and  the  diffusion  of  information  as  the  best 
aliment  to  true  liberty  ;  to  carry  on  the  benevolent  plans 
which  have  been  so  meritoriously  applied  to  the  conversion 
of  our  aboriginal  neighbors  from  the  degradation  and 
wretchedness  of  savage  life,  to  a  participation  of  the  im 
provements  of  which  the  human  mind  and  manners  are 
susceptible  in  a  civilized  state  ; — as  far  as  sentiments  and 
intentions  such  as  these  can  aid  the  fulfilment  of  my  duty, 
they  will  be  a  resource  which  cannot  fail  me. 

It  is  my  good  fortune,  moreover,  to  have  the  path  in 
which  I  am  to  tread,  lighted  by  examples  of  illustrious 
services,  successfully  rendered  in  the  most  trying  dif 
ficulties,  by  those  who  have  marched  before  me.  Of  those 
of  my  immediate  predecessor  it  might  least  become  me 
here  to  speak.  I  may,  however,  be  pardoned  for  not  sup 
pressing  the  sympathy  with  which  my  heart  is  full,  in  the 
rich  reward  he  enjoys  in  the  benedictions  of  a  beloved 
country,  gratefully  bestowed  for  exalted  talents,  zealously 
devoted,  through  a  long  career,  to  the  advancement  of  its 
highest  interest  and  happiness. 

But  the  source  to  which  I  look  for  the  aids  which  alone 
can  supply  my  deficiencies,  is  in  the  well-tried  intelligence 
and  virtue  of  my  fellow-citizens,  and  in  the  counsels 
of  those  representing  them  in  the  other  departments 
associated  in  the  care  of  the  national  interests.  In  these 
my  confidence  will,  under  every  difficulty,  be  placed,  next 
to  that  which  we  have  all  been  encouraged  to  feel  in 
the  guardianship  and  guidance  of  that  Almighty  Being 
whose  power  regulates  the  destiny  of  nations,  whose 
blessings  have  been  so  conspicuously  dispensed  to  this 
rising  republic,  and  to  whom  we  are  bound  to  address  our 
devout  gratitude  for  the  past,  as  well  as  our  fervent  sup 
plications  and  best  hopes  for  the  future. 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN.  81 

MADISON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 
NOVEMBER  29,  1809. 

Felloio-Citizens  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives : 

AT  the  period  of  our  last  meeting,  I  had  the  satisfaction 
of  communicating  an  adjustment  with  one  of  the  principal 
belligerent  nations,  highly  important  in  itself,  and  still 
more  so,  as  presaging  a  more  extended  accommodation. 
It  is  with  deep  concern  I  am  now  to  inform  you,  that  the 
favorable  prospect  has  been  overclouded  by  a  refusal  of 
the  British  government  to  abide  by  the  act  of  its  minister 
plenipotentiary,  and  by  its  ensuing  policy  towards  the 
United  States,  as  seen  through  the  communications  of  the 
minister  sent  to  replace  him. 

Whatever  pleas  may  be  urged  for  a  disavowal  of  en 
gagements  formed  by  diplomatic  functionaries,  in  cases 
where,  by  the  terms  of  the  engagements,  a  mutual  ratifica 
tion  is  reserved ;  or  where  notice  at  the  time  may  have 
been  given  of  a  departure  from  instructions ;  or  in  ex 
traordinary  cases,  essentially  violating  the  principles  of 
equity  ;  a  disavowal  could  not  have  been  apprehended  in 
a  case  where  no  such  notice  or  violation  existed  ;  where 
no  such  ratification  was  reserved  ;  and,  more  especially, 
where,  as  is  now  in  proof,  an  engagement,  to  be  executed 
without  any  such  ratification,  was  contemplated  by  the 
instructions  given,  and  where  it  had,  with  good  faith,  been 
carried  into  immediate  execution  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States. 

These  considerations  not  having  restrained  the  British 
government  from  disavowing  the  arrangement,  by  virtue 
of  which  its  orders  in  council  were  to  be  revoked,  and  the 
event  authorizing  the  renewal  of  commercial  intercourse 
having  thus  not  taken  place,  it  necessarily  became  a 
question  of  equal  urgency  and  importance,  whether  the 
act  prohibiting  that  intercourse  was  not  to  be  considered 
as  remaining  in  legal  force.  This  question  being,  after 
due  deliberation,  determined  in  the  affirmative,  a  proclama 
tion  to  that  effect  was  issued.  It  could  not  but  happen, 


82  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

however,  that  a  return  to  this  state  of  thing!?,  from  that 
which  had  followed  an  execution  of  the  arrangement 
by  the  United  States,  would  involve  difficulties.  With  a 
view  to  diminish  these  as  much  as  possible,  the  instruc 
tions  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  now  laid  before 
you,  were  transmitted  to  the  collectors  of  the  several  ports. 
If,  in  permitting  British  vessels  to  depart  without  giving 
bonds  not  to  proceed  to  their  own  ports,  it  should  appear 
that  the  tenor  of  legal  authority  has  not  been  strictly  pur 
sued,  it  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  anxious  desire  which  was 
felt  that  no  individuals  should  be  injured  by  so  unforeseen 
an  occurrence ;  and  I  rely  on  the  regard  of  Congress  for  the 
equitable  interests  of  our  own  citizens,  to  adopt  whatever 
further  provisions  may  be  found  requisite  for  a  general 
remission  of  penalties  involuntarily  incurred. 

The  recall  of  the  disavowed  minister  having  been  fol 
lowed  by  the  appointment  of  a  successor,  hopes  were 
indulged  that  the  new  mission  would  contribute  to  alleviate 
the  disappointment  which  had  been  produced,  and  to 
remove  the  causes  which  had  so  long  embarrassed  the  good 
understanding  of  the  two  nations.  It  could  not  be  doubted, 
that  it  would  at  least  be  charged  with  conciliatory  ex 
planations  of  the  steps  which  had  been  taken,  and  with 
proposals  to  be  substituted  for  the  rejected  arrangement. 
Reasonable  and  universal  as  this  expectation  was,  it  also 
has  not  been  fulfilled.  From  the  first  official  disclosures 
of  the  new  minister,  it  was  found  that  he  had  received  no 
authority  to  enter  into  explanations  relative  to  either  branch 
of  the  arrangement  disavowed,  nor  any  authority  to  sub 
stitute  proposals,  as  to  that  branch  which  concerned  the 
British  orders  in  council.  And  finally,  that  his  proposals 
with  respect  to  the  other  branch,  the  attack  on  the  frigate 
Chesapeake,  were  founded  on  a  presumption,  repeatedly 
declared  to  be  inadmissible  by  the  United  States,  that  the 
first  step  towards  adjustment  was  due  from  them  }  the 
proposals,  at  the  same  time,  omitting  even  a  reference  to 
the  officer  answerable  for  the  murderous  aggression,  and 
asserting  a  claim  not  less  contrary  to  the  British  laws  and 
British  practice,  than  to  the  principles  and  obligations  of 
the  United  States. 

The  correspondence  between  the  Department  of  State 


83 

and  this  minister  will  show  how  unessentially  the  features 
presented  in  its  commencement  have  been  varied  in  its 
progress.  It  will  show,  also,  that,  forgetting  the  respect 
due  to  all  governments,  he  did  not  refrain  from  imputations 
on  this,  which  required  that  no  further  communications 
should  be  received  from  him.  The  necessity  of  this  step 
will  be  made  known  to  his  Britannic  majesty,  through 
the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  in  Lon 
don.  And  it  would  indicate  a  want  of  the  confidence  due 
to  a  government  which  so  well  understands  and  exacts 
what  becomes  foreign  ministers  near  it,  not  to  infer  that 
the  misconduct  of  its  own  representative  will  be  viewed 
in  the  same  light  in  which  it  has  been  regarded  here. 
The  British  government  will  learn,  at  the  same  time,  that 
a  ready  attention  will  be  given  to  communications,  through 
any  channel  which  may  be  substituted.  It  will  be  happy, 
if  the  change  in  this  respect  should  be  accompanied  by  a 
favorable  revision  of  the  unfriendly  policy  which  has  been 
so  long  pursued  towards  the  United  States. 

With  France,  the  other  belligerent,  whose  trespasses 
on  our  commercial  rights  have  long  been  the  subject  of 
our  just  remonstrances,  the  posture  of  our  relations  does 
not  correspond  with  the  measures  taken  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  to  effect  a  favorable  change.  The  result 
of  the  several  communications  made  to  her  government, 
in  pursuance  of  the  authorities  vested  by  Congress  in  the 
executive,  is  contained  in  the  correspondence  of  our  min 
ister  at  Paris  now  laid  before  you. 

By  some  of  the  other  belligerents,  although  professing 
just  and  amicable  dispositions,  injuries  materially  affecting 
our  commerce  have  not  been  duly  controlled  or  repressed. 
In  these  cases,  the  interpositions  deemed  proper  on  our 
part  have  not  been  omitted.  But  it  well  deserves  the  con 
sideration  of  the  legislature,  how  far  both  the  safety  and 
honor  of  the  American  flag  may  be  consulted,  by  ad 
equate  provision  against  that  collusive  prostitution  of  it  by 
individuals,  unworthy  of  the  American  name,  which  has 
so  much  favored  the  real  or  pretended  suspicions,  under 
which  the  honest  commerce  of  their  fellow-citizens  has 
suffered. 

In  relation  to  the  powers  on  the  coast  of  Barbary,  noth- 


84  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

ing  has  occurred  which  is  not  of  a  nature  rather  to  inspire 
confidence  than  distrust,  as  to  the  continuance  of  the 
existing  amity.  With  our  Indian  neighbors,  the  just  and 
benevolent  system  continued  towards  them,  has  also  pre 
served  peace,  and  is  more  and  more  advancing  habits 
favorable  to  their  civilization  and  happiness. 

From  a  statement  which  will  be  made  by  the  Secretary 
of  War,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  fortifications  on  our  mar 
itime  frontier  are  in  many  of  the  ports  completed,  affording 
the  defence  which  was  contemplated ;  and  that  a  further 
time  will  be  required  to  render  complete  the  works  in  the 
harbor  of  New  York,  and  in  some  other  places.  By  the 
enlargement  of  the  works,  and  the  employment  of  a  greater 
number  of  hands  at  the  public  armories,  the  supply  of 
small  arms,  of  an  improving  quality,  appears  to  be  an 
nually  increasing  at  a  rate  that,  with  those  made  on 
private  contract,  may  be  expected  to  go  far  towards  provi 
ding  for  the  public  exigency. 

The  act  of  Congress  providing  for  the  equipment  of 
our  vessels  of  war  having  been  fully  carried  into  execution, 
I  refer  to  the  statement  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
for  the  information  which  may  be  proper  on  that  subject. 
To  that  statement  is  added  a  view  of  the  transfers  of  ap 
propriations,  authorized  by  the  act  of  the  session  prece 
ding  the  last,  and  of  the  grounds  on  which  the  transfers 
were  made. 

Whatever  may  be  the  course  of  your  deliberations  on 
the  subject  of  our  military  establishments,  I  should  fail  in 
my  duty  in  not  recommending  to  your  serious  attention 
the  importance  of  giving  to  our  militia,  the  great  bulwark 
of  our  security  and  resource  of  our  power,  an  organization 
the  best  adapted  to  eventual  situations,  for  which  the  United 
States  ought  to  be  prepared. 

The  sums  which  had  been  previously  accumulated  in 
the  treasury,  together  with  the  receipts  during  the  year 
ending  on  the  30th  of  September  last,  (and  amounting  to 
more  than  nine  millions  of  dollars,)  have  enabled  us  to 
fulfil  all  our  engagements,  and  to  defray  the  current  ex 
penses  of  government,  without  recurring  to  any  loan.  But 
the  insecurity  of  our  commerce,  and  the  consequent  dimi 
nution  of  the  public  revenue,  will  probably  produce  a  de- 


85 

ficiency  in  the  receipts  of  the  ensuing  year,  for  which,  and 
for  other  details,  I  refer  to  the  statements  which  will  be 
transmitted  from  the  treasury. 

In  the  state  which  has  been  presented  of  our  affairs 
with  the  great  parties  to  a  disastrous  and  protracted  war, 
carried  on  in  a  mode  equally  injurious  and  unjust  to  the 
United  States  as  a  neutral  nation,  the  wisdom  of  the 
national  legislature  will  be  again  summoned  to  the  im 
portant  decision  on  the  alternatives  before  them.  That 
these  will  be  met  in  a  spirit  worthy  the  councils  of  a  na 
tion  conscious  both  of  its  rectitude  and  of  its  rights,  and 
careful  as  well  of  its  honor  as  of  its  peace,  I  have  an 
entire  confidence.  And  that  the  result  will  be  stamped 
by  a  unanimity  becoming  the  occasion,  and  be  supported 
by  every  portion  of  our  citizens,  with  a  patriotism  en 
lightened  and  invigorated  by  experience,  ought  as  little 
to  be  doubted. 

In  the  midst  of  the  wrongs  and  vexations  experienced 
from  external  causes,  there  is  much  room  for  congratula 
tion  on  the  prosperity  and  happiness  flowing  from  our 
situation  at  home.  The  blessing  of  health  has  never 
been  more  universal.  The  fruits  of  the  seasons,  though 
in  particular  articles  and  districts  short  of  their  usual 
redundancy,  are  more  than  sufficient  for  our  wants  and 
our  comforts.  The  face  of  our  country  every  where  pre 
sents  the  evidence  of  laudable  enterprise,  of  extensive 
capital,  and  of  durable  improvement.  In  the  cultivation 
of  the  materials,  and  the  extension  of  useful  manufactures, 
more  especially  in  the  general  application  to  household 
fabrics,  we  behold  a  rapid  diminution  of  our  dependence 
on  foreign  supplies.  Nor  is  it  unworthy  of  reflection, 
that  this  revolution  in  our  pursuits  and  habits  is  in  no 
slight  degree  a  consequence  of  those  impolitic  and  arbi 
trary  edicts,  by  which  the  contending  nations,  in  endeav 
oring  each  of  them  to  obstruct  our  trade  with  the  other, 
have  so  far  abridged  our  means  of  procuring  the  produc 
tions  and  manufactures,  of  which  our  own  are  now  taking 
the  place. 

Recollecting  always  that,  for  every  advantage  which 
may  contribute  to  distinguish  our  lot  from  that  to  which 
others  are  doomed  by  the  unhappy  spirit  of  the  times,  we 
8 


86 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


are  indebted  to  that  Divine  Providence  whose  goodness 
has  been  so  remarkably  extended  to  this  rising  nation,  it 
becomes  us  to  cherish  a  devout  gratitude,  and  to  implore 
from  the  same  Omnipotent  Source  a  blessing  on  the  con 
sultations  and  measures  about  to  be  undertaken  for  the 
welfare  of  our  beloved  country. 


MONROE'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

MARCH  5,  1817. 

I  SHOULD  be  destitute  of  feeling  if  I  was  not  deeply  af 
fected  by  the  strong  proof  which  my  fellow-citizens  have 
given  me  of  their  confidence,  in  calling  me  to  the  high 
office,  whose  functions  I  am  about  to  assume.  As  the 
expression  of  their  good  opinion  of  my  conduct  in  the 
public  service,  I  derive  from  it  a  gratification,  which  those 
who  are  conscious  of  having  done  all  that  they  could  do 
to  merit  it,  can  alone  feel.  My  sensibility  is  increased  by 
a  just  estimate  of  the  importance  of  the  trust,  and  of  the 
nature  and  extent  of  its  duties  ;  with  the  proper  discharge 
of  which  the  highest  interests  of  a  great  and  free  people 
are  intimately  connected.  Conscious  of  my  own  de 
ficiency,  I  cannot  enter  on  these  duties  without  great  anxi 
ety  for  the  result.  From  a  just  responsibility  I  will  never 
shrink ;  calculating  with  confidence,  that,  in  my  best 
efforts  to  promote  the  public  welfare,  my  motives  will 
always  be  duly  appreciated,  and  my  conduct  be  viewed 
with  that  candor  and  indulgence  which  I  have  experi 
enced  in  other  stations. 

In  commencing  the  duties  of  the  chief  executive  office, 
it  has  been  the  practice  of  the  distinguished  men  who 
have  gone  before  me,  to  explain  the  principles  which 
would  govern  them  in  their  respective  administrations. 
In  following  their  venerated  example,  my  attention  is 
naturally  drawn  to  the  great  causes  which  have  contrib 
uted,  in  a  principal  degree,  to  produce  the  present  happy 
condition  of  the  United  States.  They  will  best  explain 


87 

the  nature  of  our  duties,  and  shed  much  light  on  the  pol 
icy  which  ought  to  be  pursued  in  future. 

From  the  commencement  of  our  revolution  to  the  pres 
ent  day,  almost  forty  years  have  elapsed,  and  from  the 
establishment  of  this  constitution,  twenty-eight.  Through 
this  whole  term,  the  government  has  been  what  may  em 
phatically  be  called  self-government :  and  what  has  been 
the  effect  ?  To  whatever  object  we  turn  our  attention, 
whether  it  relates  to  our  foreign  or  domestic  concerns, 
we  find  abundant  cause  to  felicitate  ourselves  in  the  ex 
cellence  of  our  institutions.  During  a  period  fraught  with 
difficulties,  and  marked  by  very  extraordinary  events,  the 
United  States  have  flourished  beyond  example.  Their 
citizens,  individually,  have  been  happy,  and  the  nation 
prosperous. 

Under  this  constitution,  our  commerce  has  been  wisely 
regulated  with  foreign  nations,  and  between  the  states; 
new  states  have  been  admitted  into  our  Union  ;  our  terri 
tory  has  been  enlarged  by  fair  and  honorable  treaty,  and 
with  great  advantage  to  the  original  states;  the  states 
respectively  protected  by  the  national  government,  under 
a  mild  paternal  system,  against  foreign  dangers,  and  en 
joying  within  their  separate  spheres,  by  a  wise  partition 
of  power,  a  just  proportion  of  the  sovereignty,  have  im 
proved  their  police,  extended  their  settlements,  and  at 
tained  a  strength  and  maturity  which  are  the  best  proofs 
of  wholesome  laws  well  administered.  And  if  we  look  to 
the  condition  of  individuals,  what  a  proud  spectacle  does 
it  exhibit !  On  whom  has  oppression  fallen  in  any  quar 
ter  of  our  Union  ?  Who  has  been  deprived  of  any  right 
of  person  or  property  ?  Who  restrained  from  offering  his 
vows  in  the  mode  which  he  prefers,  to  the  Divine  Author 
of  his  being  ?  It  is  well  known  that  all  these  blessings 
have  been  enjoyed  in  their  fullest  extent;  and  I  add,  with 
peculiar  satisfaction,  that  there  has  been  no  example  of  a 
capital  punishment  being  inflicted  on  any  one  for  the 
crime  of  high  treason. 

Some,  who  might  admit  the  competency  of  our  govern 
ment  to  those  beneficent  duties,  might  doubt  it  in  trials 
which  put  to  the  test  its  strength  and  efficiency  as  a 
member  of  the  great  community  of  nations.  Here,  too, 


88  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

experience  has  afforded  us  the  most  satisfactory  proof  in 
its  favor.  Just  as  this  constitution  was  put  into  action, 
several  of  the  principal  states  of  Europe  had  become 
much  agitated,  and  some  of  them  seriously  convulsed. 
Destructive  wars  ensued,  which  have  of  late  only  been 
terminated.  In  the  course  of  these  conflicts,  the  United 
States  received  great  injury  from  several  of  the  parties. 
It  was  their  interest  to  stand  aloof  from  the  contest,  to 
demand  justice  from  the  party  committing  the  injury,  and 
to  cultivate,  by  a  fair  and  honorable  conduct,  the  friend 
ship  of  all.  War  became  at  length  inevitable,  and  the 
result  has  shown  that  our  government  is  equal  to  that,  the 
greatest  of  trials,  under  the  most  unfavorable  circum 
stances.  Of  the  virtue  of  the  people,  and  of  the  heroic 
exploits  of  the  army,  the  navy,  and  the  militia,  I  need 
not  speak. 

Such,  then,  is  the  happy  government  under  which  we 
live ;  a  government  adequate  to  every  purpose  for  which 
the  social  compact  is  formed ;  a  government  elective  in 
all  its  branches,  under  which  every  citizen  may,  by  his 
merit,  obtain  the  highest  trust  recognized  by  the  constitu 
tion  ;  which  contains  within  it  no  cause  of  discord ;  none 
to  put  at  variance  one  portion  of  the  community  with  an 
other  ;  a  government  which  protects  every  citizen  in  the 
full  enjoyment  of  his  rights,  and  is  able  to  protect  the  na 
tion  against  injustice  from  foreign  powers. 

Other  considerations  of  the  highest  importance  admon 
ish  us  to  cherish  our  union,  and  to  cling  to  the  government 
which  supports  it.  Fortunate  as  we  are  in  our  political 
institutions,  we  have  not  been  less  so  in  other  circum 
stances,  on  which  our  prosperity  and  happiness  essentially 
depend.  Situated  within  the  temperate  zone,  and  extend 
ing  through  many  degrees  of  latitude  along  the  Atlantic, 
the  United  States  enjoy  all  the  varieties  of  climate,  and 
every  production  incident  to  that  portion  of  the  globe. 
Penetrating,  internally,  to  the  great  lakes  and  beyond  the 
sources  of  the  great  rivers  which  communicate  through 
our  whole  interior,  no  country  was  ever  happier  with 
respect  to  its  domain.  Blessed,  too,  with  a  fertile  soil,  our 
produce  has  always  been  very  abundant,  leaving,  even  in 
years  the  least  favorable,  a  surplus  for  the  wants  of  our 


MONROE'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.      89 

fellow-men  in  other  countries.  Such  is  our  peculiar 
felicity,  that  there  is  not  a  part  of  our  Union  that  is  not 
particularly  interested  in  preserving  it.  The  great  agri 
cultural  interest  of  our  nation  prospers  under  its  protec 
tion.  Local  interests  are  not  less  fostered  by  it.  Our 
fellow-citizens  of  the  north,  engaged  in  navigation,  find 
great  encouragement  in  being  made  the  favored  carriers 
of  the  vast  productions  of  the  other  portions  of  the  United 
States,  while  the  inhabitants  of  these  are  amply  recom 
pensed  in  their  turn,  by  the  nursery  for  seamen  and  naval 
force,  thus  formed  and  reared  up  for  the  support  of  our 
common  rights.  Our  manufacturers  find  a  generous  en 
couragement  by  the  policy  which  patronizes  domestic 
industry ;  and  the  surplus  of  our  produce,  a  steady  and 
profitable  market  by  local  wants  in  less  favored  parts  at 
home. 

Such,  then,  being  the  highly-favored  condition  of  our 
country,  it  is  the  interest  of  every  citizen  to  maintain  it. 
What  are  the  dangers  which  menace  us  ?  If  any  exist, 
they  ought  to  be  ascertained  and  guarded  against. 

In  explaining  my  sentiments  on  this  subject,  it  may  be 
asked,  What  raised  us  to  the  present  happy  state?  How 
did  we  accomplish  the  revolution?  How  remedy  the  de 
fects  of  the  first  instrument  of  our  Union,  by  infusing  into 
the  national  government  sufficient  power  for  national  pur 
poses,  without  impairing  the  just  rights  of  the  states,  or 
affecting  those  of  individuals  ?  How  sustain  and  pass  with 
glory  through  the  late  war  ?  The  government  has  been  in 
the  hands  of  the  people.  To  the  people,  therefore,  and  to 
the  faithful  and  able  depositaries  of  their  trust,  is  the  credit 
due.  Had  the  people  of  the  United  States  been  educated 
in  different  principles,  —  had  they  been  less  intelligent,  less 
independent,  or  less  virtuous,  —  can  it  be  believed  that  we 
should  have  maintained  the  same  steady  and  consistent 
career,  or  been  blessed  with  the  same  success  ?  While, 
then,  the  constituent  body  retains  its  present  sound  and 
healthful  state,  every  thing  will  be  safe.  They  will  choose 
competent  and  faithful  representatives  for  every  department. 
It  is  only  when  the  people  become  ignorant  and  corrupt, 
when  they  degenerate  into  a  populace,  that  they  are  inca 
pable  of  exercising  the  sovereignty.  Usurpation  is  then  an 
8* 


90  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

easy  attainment,  and  a  usurper  soon  found.  The  people 
themselves  become  the  willing  instruments  of  their  own 
debasement  and  ruin.  Let  us,  then,  look  to  the  great  cause, 
and  endeavor  to  preserve  it  in  full  force.  Let  us,  by  all 
wise  and  constitutional  measures,  promote  intelligence 
among  the  people,  as  the  best  means  of  preserving  our 
liberties. 

Dangers  from  abroad  are  not  less  deserving  of  attention. 
Experiencing  the  fortune  of  other  nations,  the  United 
States  may  again  be  involved  in  war,  and  it  may  in  that 
event  be  the  object  of  the  adverse  party  to  overset  our  gov 
ernment,  to  break  our  union,  and  demolish  us  as  a  nation. 
Our  distance  from  Europe,  and  the  just,  moderate,  and 
pacific  policy  of  our  government,  may  form  some  security 
against  these  dangers,  but  they  ought  to  be  anticipated  and 
guarded  against.  Many  of  our  citizens  are  engaged  in 
commerce  and  navigation,  and  all  of  them  are  in  a  certain 
degree  dependent  on  their  prosperous  state.  Many  are 
engaged  in  the  fisheries.  These  interests  are  exposed  to 
invasion  in  the  wars  between  other  powers,  and  we  should 
disregard  the  faithful  admonitions  of  experience  if  we  did 
not  expect  it.  We  must  support  our  rights,  or  lose  our 
character,  and  with  it,  perhaps,  our  liberties.  A  people 
who  fail  to  do  it,  can  scarcely  be  said  to  hold  a  place 
among  independent  nations.  National  honor  is  national 
property  of  the  highest  value.  The  sentiment  in  the  mind 
of  every  citizen,  is  national  strength.  It  ought  therefore 
to  be  cherished. 

To  secure  us  against  these  dangers,  our  coast  and  in 
land  frontiers  should  be  fortified,  our  army  and  navy 
regulated  upon  just  principles  as  to  the  force  of  each,  be 
kept  in  perfect  order,  and  our  militia  be  placed  on  the  best 
practicable  footing.  To  put  our  extensive  coast  in  such  a 
state  of  defence  as  to  secure  our  cities  and  interior  from 
invasion,  will  be  attended  with  expense ;  but  the  work,  when 
finished,  will  be  permanent,  and  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  a 
single  campaign  of  invasion,  by  a  naval  force,  superior  to 
our  own,  aided  by  a  few  thousand  land  troops,  would 
expose  us  to  a  greater  expense,  without  taking  into  the 
estimate  the  loss  of  property  and  distress  of  our  citizens, 
than  would  be  sufficient  for  this  great  work.  Our  land 


91 

and  naval  forces  should  be  moderate,  but  adequate  to  the 
necessary  purposes.  The  former  to  garrison  and  preserve 
our  fortifications,  and  to  meet  the  first  invasions  of  a  foreign 
foe ;  and  while  constituting  the  elements  of  a  greater  force, 
to  preserve  the  science,  as  well  as  all  the  necessary  imple 
ments  of  war,  in  a  state  to  be  brought  into  activity  in  the 
event  of  war.  The  latter,  retained  within  the  limits  proper 
in  state  of  peace,  might  aid  in  maintaining  the  neutrality 
of  the  United  States,  with  dignity,  in  the  wars  of  other 
powers,  and  in  saving  the  property  of  their  citizens  from 
spoliation.  In  time  of  war,  with  the  enlargement  of  which 
the  great  naval  resources  of  the  country  render  it  suscepti 
ble,  and  which  should  be  duly  fostered  in  time  of  peace,  it 
would  contribute  essentially,  both  as  an  auxiliary  of  defence 
and  as  a  powerful  engine  of  annoyance,  to  diminish  the 
calamities  of  war,  and  to  bring  the  war  to  a  speedy  and 
honorable  termination. 

But  it  ought  always  to  be  held  prominently  in  view,  that 
the  safety  of  these  states,  and  of  every  thing  dear  to  a  free 

feople,  must  depend  in  an  eminent  degree  on  the  militia, 
nvasions  may  be  made  too  formidable  to  be  resisted  by  any 
land  and  naval  force,  which  it  would  comport  either  with 
the  principles  of  our  government,  or  the  circumstances  of 
the  United  States,  to  maintain.  In  such  cases,  recourse 
must  be  had  to  the  great  body  of  the  people,  and  in  a  man 
ner  to  produce  the  best  effect.  It  is  of  the  highest  impor 
tance,  therefore,  that  they  be  so  organized  and  trained  as 
to  be  prepared  for  any  emergency.  The  arrangement 
should  be  such  as  to  put  at  the  command  of  the  govern 
ment  the  ardent  patriotism  and  youthful  vigor  of  the 
country.  If  formed  on  equal  and  just  principles,  it  cannot 
be  oppressive.  It  is  the  crisis  which  makes  the  pressure, 
and  not  the  laws  which  provide  a  remedy  for  it.  This 
arrangement  should  be  formed,  too,  in  time  of  peace,  to  be 
the  better  prepared  for  war.  With  such  an  organization 
of  such  a  people,  the  United  States  have  nothing  to  dread 
from  foreign  invasion.  At  its  approach,  an  overwhelming 
force  of  gallant  men  might  always  be  put  in  motion. 

Other  interests  of  high  importance  will  claim  attention; 
among  which  the  improvement  of  our  country  by  roads 
and  canals,  proceeding  always  with  a  constitutional  sane- 


92  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

tion,  holds  a  distinguished  place.  By  thus  facilitating  the 
intercourse  between  the  states,  we  shall  add  much  to  the 
convenience  and  comfort  of  our  fellow-citizens,  much  to  the 
ornament  of  the  country,  and,  what  is  of  greater  importance, 
we  shall  shorten  distances,  and  by  making  each  part  more 
accessible  to  and  dependent  on  the  other,  we  shall  bind 
the  Union  more  closely  together.  Nature  has  done  so 
much  for  us  by  intersecting  the  country  with  so  many 
great  rivers,  bays,  and  lakes,  approaching  from  distant 
points  so  near  to  each  other,  that  the  inducement  to  com 
plete  the  work  seems  to  be  peculiarly  strong.  A  more 
interesting  spectacle  was  perhaps  never  seen  than  is  ex 
hibited  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States  —  a  territory 
so  vast,  and  advantageously  situated,  containing  objects  so 
grand,  so  useful,  so  happily  connected  in  all  their  parts. 

Our  manufactures  will,  likewise,  require  the  systematic 
and  fostering  care  of  the  government.  Possessing,  as  we 
do,  all  the  raw  materials,  the  fruit  of  our  own  soil  and  in 
dustry,  we  ought  not  to  depend,  in  the  degree  we  have 
done,  on  supplies  from  other  countries.  While  we  are 
thus  dependent,  the  sudden  event  of  war,  unsought  and  un 
expected,  cannot  fail  to  plunge  us  into  the  most  serious 
difficulties.  It  is  important,  too,  that  the  capital  which 
nourishes  our  manufactures  should  be  domestic,  as  its 
influence  in  that  case,  instead  of  exhausting,  as  it  may  do 
in  foreign  hands,  would  be  felt  advantageously  on  agricul 
ture,  and  every  other  branch  of  industry.  Equally  im 
portant  is  it  to  provide  at  home  a  market  for  our  raw 
materials,  as,  by  extending  the  competition,  it  will  enhance 
the  price,  and  protect  the  cultivator  against  the  casualties 
incident  to  foreign  markets. 

With  the  Indian  tribes  it  is  our  duty  to  cultivate  friendly 
relations,  and  to  act  with  kindness  and  liberality  in  all  our 
transactions.  Equally  proper  is  it  to  persevere  in  our 
efforts  to  extend  to  them  the  advantages  of  civilization. 

The  great  amount  of  our  revenue,  and  the  flourishing 
state  of  the  treasury,  are  a  full  proof  of  the  competency  of 
the  national  resources  for  any  emergency,  as  they  are  of 
the  willingness  of  our  fellow-citizens  to  bear  the  burdens 
which  the  public  necessities  require.  The  vast  amount  of 
vacant  lands,  the  value  of  which  daily  augments,  forms  an 


93 

additional  resource  of  great  extent  and  duration.  These 
resources,  besides  accomplishing  every  other  necessary  pur 
pose,  puts  it  completely  in  the  power  of  the  United  States 
to  discharge  the  national  debt  at  an  early  period.  Peace 
is  the  best  time  for  improvement  and  preparations  of  every 
kind ;  it  is  in  peace  that  our  commerce  flourishes  most, 
that  taxes  are  most  easily  paid,  and  that  the  revenue  is 
most  productive. 

The  executive  is  charged,  officially,  in  the  departments 
under  it,  with  the  disbursement  of  the  public  money,  and 
is  responsible  for  the  faithful  application  of  it  to  the  pur 
poses  for  which  it  is  raised.  The  legislature  is  the  watch 
ful  guardian  over  the  public  purse.  It  is  its  duty  to  see 
that  the  disbursement  has  been  honestly  made.  To  meet 
the  requisite  responsibility,  every  facility  should  be  afford 
ed  to  the  executive,  to  enable  it  to  bring  the  public  agents 
intrusted  with  the  public  money,  strictly  and  promptly  to 
account.  Nothing  should  be  presumed  against  them;  but 
if,  with  the  requisite  facilities,  the  public  money  is  suffered 
to  lie  long  and  uselessly  in  their  hands,  they  will  not  be  the 
only  defaulters,  nor  will  the  demoralizing  effect  be  confined 
to  them.  It  will  evince  a  relaxation  and  want  of  tone  in  the 
administration,  which  will  be  felt  by  the  whole  community. 
I  shall  do  all  that  I  can  to  secure  economy  and  fidelity  in 
this  important  branch  of  the  administration,  and  I  doubt 
not  that  the  legislature  will  perform  its  duty  with  equal 
zeal.  A  thorough  examination  should  be  regularly  made, 
and  I  will  promote  it. 

It  is  particularly  gratifying  to  me  to  enter  on  the  dis 
charge  of  these  duties  at  a  time  when  the  United  States 
are  blessed  with  peace.  It  is  a  state  most  consistent  with 
their  prosperity  and  happiness.  It  will  be  my  sincere  de 
sire  to  preserve  it,  so  far  as  depends  on  the  executive,  on 
just  principles  with  all  nations,  claiming  nothing  unreason 
able  of  any,  and  rendering  to  each  what  is  its  due. 

Equally  gratifying  is  it  to  witness  the  increased  harmony 
of  opinion  which  pervades  our  Union.  Discord  does  not 
belong  to  our  system.  Union  is  recommended,  as  well  by 
the  free  and  benign  principles  of  our  government,  extend 
ing  its  blessings  to  every  individual,  as  by  the  other 
eminent  advantages  attending  it.  The  American  people 


94  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

have  encountered  together  great  dangers,  and  sustained 
severe  trials,  with  success.  They  constitute  one  great 
family,  with  a  common  interest.  Experience  has  enlight 
ened  us  on  some  questions  of  essential  importance  to  the 
country.  The  progress  has  been  slow,  dictated  by  a  just 
reflection,  and  a  faithful  regard  to  every  interest  connected 
with  it.  To  promote  this  harmony,  in  accordance  with 
the  principles  of  our  republican  government,  and  in  a 
manner  to  give  the  most  complete  effect,  and  to  advance, 
in  all  other  respects,  the  best  interests  of  our  country,  will 
be  the  object  of  my  constant  and  zealous  exertions. 

Never  did  a  government  commence  under  auspices  so 
favorable,  nor  ever  was  success  so  complete.  If  we  look 
to  the  history  of  other  nations,  ancient  or  modern,  we  find 
no  example  of  a  growth  so  rapid,  so  gigantic ;  of  a  people 
so  prosperous  and  happy.  In  contemplating  what  we  have 
still  to  perform,  the  heart  of  every  citizen  must  expand 
with  joy,  when  he  reflects  how  near  our  government  has 
approached  to  perfection ;  that  in  respect  to  it  we  have  no 
essential  improvement  to  make ;  that  the  great  object  is  to 
preserve  it  in  the  essential  principles  and  features  which 
characterize  it,  and  that  that  is  to  be  done  by  preserving 
the  virtue  and  enlightening  the  minds  of  the  people ;  and, 
as  a  security  against  foreign  dangers,  to  adopt  such  ar 
rangements  as  are  indispensable  to  the  support  of  our 
independence,  our  rights  and  liberties.  If  we  persevere 
in  the  career  in  which  we  have  advanced  so  far,  and  in 
the  path  already  traced,  we  cannot  fail,  under  the  favor  of 
a  gracious  Providence,  to  attain  the  high  destiny  which 
seems  to  await  us. 

In  the  administration  of  the  illustrious  men  who  have 
preceded  me  in  this  high  station,  with  some  of  whom  I 
have  been  connected  by  the  closest  ties  from  early  life, 
examples  are  presented  which  will  always  be  found  highly 
instructive  and  useful  to  their  successors.  From  these  I 
shall  endeavor  to  derive  all  the  advantages  which  they  may 
afford.  Of  my  immediate  predecessor,  under  whom  so 
important  a  portion  of  this  great  and  successful  experiment 
has  been  made,  I  shall  be  pardoned  for  expressing  my 
earnest  wishes  that  he  may  long  enjoy  in  his  retirement 
the  affections  of  a  grateful  country,  the  best  reward 


95 

of  exalted  talents  and  the  most  faithful  and  meritorious 
services.  Relying  on  the  aid  to  be  derived  from  the  other 
departments  of  government,  I  enter  on  the  trust  to  which  I 
have  been  called  by  the  suffrages  of  my  fellow-citizens, 
with  my  fervent  prayers  to  the  Almighty  that  he  will  be 
graciously  pleased  to  continue  to  us  that  protection  which 
he  has  already  so  conspicuously  displayed  in  our  favor. 


MONROE'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

DECEMBER  3,  1817. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

AT  no  period  of  our  political  existence  had  we  so  much 
cause  to  felicitate  ourselves  at  the  prosperous  and  happy 
condition  of  our  country.  The  abundant  fruits  of  the 
earth  have  filled  it  with  plenty.  An  extensive  and  profit 
able  commerce  has  greatly  augmented  our  revenue.  The 
public  credit  has  attained  an  extraordinary  elevation.  Our 
preparations  for  defence,  in  case  of  future  wars,  from 
which,  by  the  experience  of  all  nations,  we  ought  not  to  ex 
pect  to  be  exempted,  are  advancing,  under  a  well-digested 
system,  with  all  the  despatch  which  so  important  a  work 
will  admit.  Our  free  government,  founded  on  the  interests 
and  affections  of  the  people,  has  gained,  and  is  daily  gain 
ing  strength.  Local  jealousies  are  rapidly  yielding  to 
more  generous,  enlarged,  and  enlightened  views  of  national 
policy.  For  advantages  so  numerous  and  highly  important, 
it  is  our  duty  to  unite  in  grateful  acknowledgments  to  that 
Omnipotent  Being,  from  whom  they  are  derived,  and  in 
unceasing  prayer  that  he  will  endow  us  with  virtue  and 
strength  to  maintain  and  hand  them  down,  in  their  utmost 
purity,  to  our  latest  posterity. 

I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you,  that  an  arrange 
ment,  which  had  been  commenced  by  my  predecessor, 
with  the  British  government,  for  the  reduction  of  the  naval 
force,  by  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  on  the  lakes, 


96  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

has  been  concluded ;  by  which  it  is  provided,  that  neither 
party  shall  keep  in  service  on  Lake  Champlain  more  than 
one  \  issel ;  on  Lake  Ontario,  more  than  one ;  on  Lake  Erie 
and  he  upper  lakes,  more  than  two ;  to  be  armed,  each 
with  one  cannon  only,  and  that  all  the  other  armed  vessels 
of  bo  h  parties,  of  which  an  exact  list  is  interchanged,  shall 
be  dismantled.  It  is  also  agreed,  that  the  force  retained 
shall  oe  restricted  in  its  duty  to  the  internal  purposes  of 
each  party  ;  and  that  the  arrangement  shall  remain  in  force 
until  six  months  shall  have  expired  after  notice  having  been 
given  by  one  of  the  parties  to  the  other  of  its  desire  that  it 
should  terminate.  By  this  arrangement,  useless  expense 
on  both  sides,  and,  what  is  of  greater  importance,  the 
danger  of  collision  between  armed  vessels  in  those  inland 
waters,  which  was  great,  is  prevented. 

I  have  the  satisfaction  also  to  state,  that  the  commission 
ers  under  the  fourth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  to  whom 
it  was  referred  to  decide  to  which  party  the  several  islands 
in  ihz  Bay  of  Passamaquoddy  belonged,  under  the  treaty  of 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty -three,  have  agreed 
in  a  report,  by  which  all  the  islands  in  the  possession  of 
each  party  before  the  late  war  have  been  decreed  to  it. 
The  commissioners  acting  under  the  other  articles  of  the 
treaty  of  Ghent,  for  the  settlement  of  the  boundaries,  have 
also  been  engaged  in  the  discharge  of  their  respective 
duties,  but  have  not  yet  completed  them.  The  difference 
which  arose  between  the  two  governments,  under  the 
treaty,  respecting  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  take 
and  cure  fish  on  the  coast  of  the  British  provinces,  north 
of  our  limits,  which  had  been  secured  by  the  treaty  of  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-three,  is  still  in  negoti 
ation.  The  proposition  made  by  this  government,  to  ex 
tend  to  the  colonies  of  Great  Britain  the  principle  of  the 
convention  of  London,  by  which  the  commerce  between 
the  ports  of  the  United  States  and  British  ports  of  Europe 
had  been  placed  on  a  footing  of  equality,  has  been  declined 
by  the  British  government.  This  subject  having  been  thus 
amicably  discussed  between  the  two  governments,  and  it 
appearing  that  the  British  government  is  unwilling  to  de 
part  from  its  present  regulations,  it  remains  for  Congress 
to  decide  whether  they  will  make  any  other  regulations  in 


97 

consequence  thereof,  for  the  protection  and  improvement 
of  our  navigation. 

The  negotiation  with  Spain,  for  spoliations  on  our  com 
merce,  and  the  settlement  of  boundaries,  remains  essen 
tially  in  the  state  it  held  in  the  communications  that  were 
made  to  Congress  by  my  predecessor.  It  has  been  evident 
ly  the  policy  of  the  Spanish  government  to  keep  the 
negotiation  suspended,  and  in  this  the  United  States  have 
acquiesced,  from  an  amicable  disposition  towards  Spain, 
and  in  the  expectation  that  her  government  would,  from 
a  sense  of  justice,  finally  accede  to  such  an  arrangement 
as  would  be  equal  between  the  parties.  A  disposition  has 
been  lately  shown  by  the  Spanish  government  to  move  in 
the  negotiation,  which  has  been  met  by  this  government; 
and  should  the  conciliatory  and  friendly  policy  which  has 
invariably  guided  our  councils  be  reciprocated,  a  just  and 
satisfactory  arrangement  may  be  expected.  It  is  proper, 
however,  to  remark  that  no  proposition  has  yet  been  made 
from  which  such  a  result  can  be  presumed. 

It  was  anticipated,  at  an  early  stage,  that  the  contest 
between  Spain  and  the  colonies  would  become  highly 
interesting  to  the  United  States.  It  was  natural  that  our 
citizens  should  sympathize  in  events  which  affected  their 
neighbors.  It  seemed  probable,  also,  that  the  prosecution 
of  the  conflict,  along  our  coast,  and  in  contiguous  coun 
tries,  would  occasionally  interrupt  our  commerce,  and 
otherwise  affect  the  persons  and  property  of  our  citizens. 
These  anticipations  have  been  realized.  Such  injuries 
have  been  received  from  persons  aoting  under  the  authority 
of  both  the  parties,  and  for  which  redress  has,  in  some 
instances,  been  withheld.  Through  every  stage  of  the 
conflict,  the  United  States  have  maintained  an  impartial 
neutrality,  giving  aid  to  neither  of  the  parties  in  men, 
money,  ships,  or  munitions  of  war.  They  have  regarded 
the  contest  not  in  the  light  of  an  ordinary  insurrection  or 
rebellion,  but  as  a  civil  war  between  parties  nearly  equal, 
having,  as  to  neutral  powers,  equal  rights.  Our  ports 
have  been  open  to  both,  and  every  article  the  fruit  of  our 
soil,  or  of  the  industry  of  our  citizens,  which  either  was 
permitted  to  take,  has  been  equally  free  to  the  other. 
Should  the  colonies  establish  their  independence,  it  is 
9 


98  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

proper  now  to  state  that  this  government  neither  seeks  nor 
would  accept  from  them  any  advantage  in  commerce  or 
otherwise,  which  will  not  be  equally  open  to  all  other 
nations.  The  colonies  will,  in  that  event,  become  inde 
pendent  states,  free  from  any  obligation  to,  or  connection 
with  us,  which  it  may  not  then  be  their  interest  to  form  on 
a  basis  of  fair  reciprocity. 

In  the  summer  of  the  present  year,  an  expedition  was 
set  on  foot  against  East  Florida,  by  persons  claiming  to 
act  under  the  authority  of  some  of  the  colonies,  who  took 
possession  of  Amelia  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  St.  Mary's 
River,  near  the  boundary  of  the  state  of  Georgia.  As  the 
province  lies  eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  and  is  bounded 
by  the  United  States  and  the  ocean  on  every  side,  and 
has  been  a  subject  of  negotiation  with  the  government  of 
Spain,  as  an  indemnity  for  losses  by  spoliation,  or  in 
exchange  of  territory  of  equal  value,  westward  of  the 
Mississippi,  —  a  fact  well  known  to  the  world,  —  it  excited 
surprise  that  any  countenance  should  be  given  to  this 
measure  by  any  of  the  colonies.  As  it  would  be  difficult 
to  reconcile  it  with  the  friendly  relations  existing  between 
the  United  States  and  the  colonies,  a  doubt  was  entertained 
whether  it  had  been  authorized  by  them,  or  any  of  them. 
This  doubt  has  gained  strength,  by  the  circumstances 
which  have  unfolded  themselves  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
enterprise,  which  have  marked  it  as  a  mere  private,  un 
authorized  adventure.  Projected  and  commenced  with  an 
incompetent  force,  reliance  seems  to  have  been  placed  on 
what  might  be  drawn,  in  defiance  of  our  laws,  from  within 
our  limits ;  and  of  late,  as  their  resources  have  failed,  it 
has  assumed  a  more  marked  character  of  unfriendliness  to 
us,  the  island  being  made  a  channel  for  the  illicit  intro 
duction  of  slaves  from  Africa  into  the  United  States,  an 
asylum  for  fugitive  slaves  from  the  neighboring  states,  and  a 
port  for  smuggling  of  every  kind. 

A  similar  establishment  was  made,  at  an  earlier  period, 
by  persons  of  the  same  description,  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
at  a  place  called  Galveston,  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  as  we  contend,  under  the  cession  of  Louisiana. 
This  enterprise  has  been  marked  in  a  more  signal  manner 
by  all  the  objectionable  circumstances  which  characterized 


99 

the  other,  and  more  particularly  by  the  equipment  of 
privateers  which  have  annoyed  our  commerce,  and  by 
smuggling.  These  establishments,  if  ever  sanctioned  by 
any  authority  whatever,  which  is  not  believed,  have  abused 
their  trust  and  forfeited  all  claim  to  consideration.  A  just 
regard  for  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  United  States 
required  that  they  should  be  suppressed,  and  orders  have 
accordingly  been  issued  to  that  effect.  The  imperious 
considerations  which  produced  this  measure  will  be  ex 
plained  to  the  parties  whom  it  may  in  any  degree  concern. 

To  obtain  correct  information  on  every  subject  in  which 
the  United  States  are  interested ;  to  inspire  just  sentiments 
in  all  persons  in  authority,  on  either  side,  of  our  friendly 
disposition,  so  far  as  it  may  comport  with  an  impartial 
neutrality,  and  to  secure  proper  respect  to  our  commerce 
in  every  port,  and  from  every  flag,  it  has  been  thought 
proper  to  send  a  ship  of  war,  with  three  distinguished 
citizens,  along  the  southern  coast,  with  instructions  to 
touch  at  such  ports  as  they  may  find  most  expedient  for 
these  purposes.  With  the  existing  authorities,  with  those 
in  the  possession  of,  and  exercising  the  sovereignty,  must 
the  communication  be  held ;  from  them  alone  can  redress 
for  past  injuries,  committed  by  persons  acting  under  them, 
be  obtained ;  by  them  alone  can  the  commission  of  the  like 
in  future  be  prevented. 

Our  relations  with  the  other  powers  of  Europe  have 
experienced  no  essential  change  since  the  last  session.  In 
our  intercourse  with  each,  due  attention  continues  to  be 
paid  to  the  protection  of  our  commerce,  and  to  every  other 
object  in  which  the  United  States  are  interested.  A  strong 
hope  is  entertained,  that,  by  adhering  to  the  maxims  of  a 
just,  candid,  and  friendly  policy,  we  may  long  preserve 
amicable  relations  with  all  the  powers  of  Europe,  on  con 
ditions  advantageous  and  honorable  to  our  country. 

With  the  Barbary  states  and  the  Indian  tribes,  our 
pacific  relations  have  been  preserved. 

In  calling  your  attention  to  the  internal  concerns  of 
our  country,  the  view  which  they  exhibit  is  peculiarly 
gratifying.  The  payments  which  have  been  made  into 
the  treasury  show  the  very  productive  state  of  the  public 
revenue.  After  satisfying  the  appropriations  made  by  law 


100  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

for  the  support  of  the  civil  government  and  of  the  military 
and  naval  establishments,  embracing  suitable  provision  for 
fortification  and  for  the  gradual  increase  of  the  navy,  pay 
ing  the  interest  of  the  public  debt,  and  extinguishing  more 
than  eighteen  millions  of  the  principal,  within  the  present 
year,  it  is  estimated  that  a  balance  of  more  than  six  mil 
lions  of  dollars  will  remain  in  the  treasury  on  the  first  day 
of  January,  applicable  to  the  current  service  of  the  en 
suing  year. 

The  payments  into  the  treasury  during  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventeen,  on  account  of 
imports  and  tonnage,  resulting  principally  from  duties 
which  have  accrued  in  the  present  year,  may  be  fairly 
estimated  at  twenty  millions  of  dollars ;  internal  revenues, 
at  two  millions  five  hundred  thousand;  public  lands,  at  one 
million  five  hundred  thousand ;  bank  dividends  and  inci 
dental  receipts,  at  five  hundred  thousand  ;  making,  in  the 
whole,  twenty-four  millions  and  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

The  annual  permanent  expenditure  for  the  support  of 
the  civil  government,  and  of  the  army  and  navy,  as  now 
established  by  law,  amounts  to  eleven  millions  eight  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars ;  and  for  the  sinking  fund,  to  ten 
millions ;  making,  in  the  whole,  twenty-one  millions  eight 
hundred  thousand  dollars;  leaving  an  annual  excess  of 
revenue,  beyond  the  expenditure,  of  two  millions  seven 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  exclusive  of  the  balance  esti 
mated  to  be  in  the  treasury  on  the  1st  day  of  January, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen. 

In  the  present  state  of  the  treasury,  the  whole  of  the 
Louisiana  debt  may  be  redeemed  in  the  year  1819  ;  after 
which,  if  the  public  debt  continues  as  it  now  is,  above  par, 
there  will  be  annually  about  five  millions  of  the  sinking 
fund  unexpended,  until  the  year  1825,  when  the  loan  of 
1812,  and  the  stock  created  by  funding  treasury  notes,  will 
be  redeemable. 

It  is  also  estimated  that  the  Mississippi  stock  will  be 
discharged  during  the  year  1819,  from  the  proceeds  of  the 
public  lands  assigned  to  that  object;  after  which  the  receipts 
from  those  lands  will  annually  add  to  the  public  revenue 
the  sum  of  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  mak- 


MONROE'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  101 

ing  the  permanent  annual  revenue  amount  to  twenty-six 
millions  of  dollars,  and  leaving  an  annual  «xcetis  of  'revenue 
after  the  year  1819,  beyond  the  permanettt'-autfrorized 
expenditure,  of  more  than  four  millions  of 'jdqllarsj.  ,  -, , 

By  the  last  returns  to  the  department  of  waT9  ihe  militia 
force  of  the  several  states  may  be  estimated  at  eight  hun 
dred  thousand  men,  infantry,  artillery,  and  cavalry.  Great 
part  of  this  force  is  armed,  and  measures  are  taken  to  arm 
the  whole.  An  improvement  in  the  organization  and  dis 
cipline  of  the  rnilitia,  is  one  of  the  great  objects  which 
claim  the  unremitted  attention  of  Congress. 

The  regular  force  amounts  nearly  to  the  number  re 
quired  by  law,  and  is  stationed  along  the  Atlantic  and 
inland  frontiers. 

Of  the  naval  force,  it  has  been  necessary  to  maintain 
strong  squadrons  in  the  Mediterranean  and  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

From  several  of  the  Indian  tribes,  inhabiting  the  coun 
try  bordering  on  Lake  Erie,  purchases  have  been  made 
of  lands,  on  conditions  very  favorable  to  the  United  States, 
and,  it  is  presumed,  not  less  so  to  the  tribes  themselves. 
By  these  purchases,  the  Indian  title,  with  moderate  reser 
vations,  has  been  extinguished  to  the  whole  of  the  land 
within  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  to  a  great  part  of  that  in 
Michigan  territory,  and  of  the  state  of  Indiana.  From 
the  Cherokee  tribe  a  tract  has  been  purchased  in  the 
state  of  Georgia,  and  an  arrangement  made,  by  which,  in 
exchange  for  lands  beyond  the  Mississippi,  a  great  part,  if 
not  the  whole  of  the  land  belonging  to  the  tribe,  eastward 
of  that  river,  in  the  states  of  North  Carolina,  Georgia, 
and  Tennessee,  and  in  the  Alabama  territory,  will  soon  be 
acquired.  By  these  acquisitions,  and  others  that  may 
reasonably  be  expected  soon  to  follow,  we  shall  be  enabled 
to  extend  our  settlements  from  the  inhabited  parts  of  the 
state  of  Ohio,  along  Lake  Erie,  into  the  Michigan  territory, 
and  to  connect  our  settlements  by  degrees,  through  the 
state  of  Indiana  and  the  Illinois  territory,  to  that  of  Mis 
souri.  A  similar  and  equally  advantageous  effect  will  soon 
be  produced  to  the  south,  through  the  whole  extent  of  the 
states  and  territory  which  border  on  the  waters  emptying 
into  the  Mississippi  and  the  Mobile.  In  this  progress, 
9* 


102  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

which  the  rights  of  nature  demand,  and  nothing  can  pre 
vent,  aRarlsmg'a  ;growth  rapid  and  gigantic,  it  is  our  duty 
to  make  new  efforts  for  the  preservation,  improvement,  and 
,oiyili,z<atiQn  of  the  native  inhabitants.  The  hunter  state 
,ea.»  exist  ^oaly-in  'the  vast,  uncultivated  desert.  It  yields  to 
the  more  dense  and  compact  form  and  greater  force  of 
civilized  population ;  and  of  right  it  ought  to  yield,  for  the 
earth  was  given  to  mankind  to  support  the  greatest  num 
ber  of  which  it  is  capable,  and  no  tribe  or  people  have  a 
right  to  withhold  from  the  wants  of  others  more  than  is 
necessary  for  their  own  support  and  comfort.  It  is  grat 
ifying  to  know  that  the  reservations  of  land  made  by  the 
treaties  with  the  tribes  on  Lake  Erie,  were  made  with  a 
view  to  individual  ownership  among  them,  and  to  the  cul 
tivation  of  the  soil  by  all,  and  that  an  annual  stipend  has 
been  pledged  to  supply  their  other  wants.  It  will  merit 
the  consideration  of  Congress,  whether  other  provisions, 
not  stipulated  by  the  treaty,  ought  to  be  made  for  these 
tribes,  and  for  the  advancement  of  the  liberal  and  humane 
policy  of  the  United  States  towards  all  the  tribes  within 
our  limits,  and  more  particularly  for  their  improvement  in 
the  arts  of  civilized  life. 

Among  the  advantages  incident  to  these  purchases,  and 
to  those  which  have  preceded,  the  security  which  may 
thereby  be  afforded  to  our  inland  frontier  is  peculiarly 
important.  With  a  strong  barrier,  consisting  of  our  own 
people  thus  planted  on  the  lakes,  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
Mobile,  with  the  protection  to  be  derived  from  the  regular 
force,  Indian  hostilities,  if  they  do  not  altogether  cease, 
will  henceforth  lose  their  terror.  Fortifications  in  those 
quarters  to  any  extent  will  not  be  necessary,  and  the  ex 
pense  attending  them  may  be  saved.  A  people  accustomed 
to  the  use  of  fire-arms  only,  as  the  Indian  tribes  are,  will 
shun  even  moderate  works  which  are  defended  by  cannon. 
Great  fortifications  will  therefore  be  requisite  only  in  future 
along  the  coast,  and  at  some  points  in  the  interior  con 
nected  with  it.  On  these  will  the  safety  of  towns  and  the 
commerce  of  our  rivers,  from  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  the 
Mississippi,  depend.  On  these,  therefore,  should  the  ut 
most  attention,  skill,  and  labor  be  bestowed. 

A  considerable  and  rapid  augmentation  in  the  value  of 


MONROE'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  103 

all  the  public  lands,  proceeding  from  these  and  other  ob 
vious  causes,  may  henceforward  be  expected.  The  dif 
ficulties  attending  early  emigrations  will  be  dissipated  even 
in  the  most  remote  parts.  Several  new  states  have  been 
admitted  into  our  Union  to  the  west  and  south,  and  territo 
rial  governments,  happily  organized,  established  over  every 
other  portion  in  which  there  is  vacant  land  for  sale.  In 
terminating  Indian  hostilities,  as  must  soon  be  done,  in  a 
formidable  shape  at  least,  the  emigration,  which  has  here 
tofore  been  great,  will  probably  increase,  and  the  demand  for 
land,  and  the  augmentation  in  its  value,  be  in  like  propor 
tion.  The  great  increase  of  our  population  throughout  the 
Union  will  alone  produce  an  important  effect,  and  in  no 
quarter  will  it  be  so  sensibly  felt  as  those  in  contemplation. 
The  public  lands  are  a  public  stock,  which  ought  to  be 
disposed  of  to  the  best  advantage  for  the  nation.  The  na 
tion  should,  therefore,  derive  the  profit  proceeding  from  the 
continual  rise  in  their  value.  Every  encouragement  should 
be  given  to  the  emigrants,  consistent  with  a  fair  competi 
tion  between  them  ;  but  that  competition  should  operate  in 
the  first  sale  to  the  advantage  of  the  nation  rather  than  of 
individuals.  Great  capitalists  will  derive  all  the  benefit  in 
cident  to  their  superior  wealth,  under  any  mode  of  sale 
which  may  be  adopted.  But  if,  looking  forward  to  the 
rise  in  the  value  of  the  public  lands,  they  should  have  the 
opportunity  of  amassing,  at  a  low  price,  vast  bodies  in 
their  hands,  the  profit  will  accrue  to  them,  and  not  to  the 
public.  They  would  also  have  the  power,  in  that  degree, 
to  control  the  emigration  and  settlement  in  such  a  manner 
as  their  opinion  of  their  respective  interests  might  dictate. 
I  submit  the  subject  to  the  consideration  of  Congress,  that 
such  further  provision  may  be  made  of  the  sale  of  the  pub 
lic  lands,  with  a  view  to  the  public  interest,  should  any  be 
deemed  expedient,  as  in  their  judgment  may  be  best 
adapted  to  the  object. 

When  we  consider  the  vast  extent  of  territory  within 
the  United  States,  the  great  amount  and  value  of  its  pro 
ductions,  the  connection  of  its  parts,  and  other  circum 
stances  on  which  their  prosperity  and  happiness  depend, 
we  cannot  fail  to  entertain  a  high  sense  of  the  advantage 
to  be  derived  from  the  facility  which  may  be  afforded  in 


104  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  intercourse  between  them,  by  means  of  good  roads  and 
canals.  Never  did  a  country  of  such  vast  extent  offer 
equal  inducements  to  improvements  of  this  kind,  nor  ever 
were  consequences  of  such  magnitude  involved  in  them. 
As  this  subject  was  acted  on  by  Congress  at  the  last  ses 
sion,  and  there  may  be  a  disposition  to  revive  it  at  present, 
I  have  brought  it  into  view  for  the  purpose  of  communica 
ting  my  sentiments  on  a  very  important  circumstance  con 
nected  with  it,  with  that  freedom  and  candor  which  a  regard 
for  the  public  interest  and  a  proper  respect  for  Congress 
require.  A  difference  of  opinion  has  existed  from  the  first 
formation  of  our  constitution  to  the  present  time,  among 
our  most  enlightened  and  virtuous  citizens,  respecting  the 
right  of  Congress  to  establish  such  a  system  of  improve 
ment.  Taking  into  view  the  trust  with  which  I  am  now 
honored,  it  would  be  improper,  after  what  has  passed,  that 
this  discussion  should  be  revived  with  an  uncertainty  of 
my  opinion  respecting  the  right.  Disregarding  early  im 
pressions,  I  have  bestowed  on  the  subject  all  the  deliber 
ation  which  its  great  importance,  and  a  just  sense  of  my 
duty,  required,  and  the  result  is  a  settled  conviction  in  my 
mind  that  Congress  do  not  possess  the  right.  It  is  not 
contained  in  any  of  the  specified  powers  granted  to  Con 
gress,  rior  can  I  consider  it  incidental  to,  or  a  necessary 
mean,  viewed  on  the  most  liberal  scale,  for  carrying  into 
effect  any  of  the  powers  which  are  specifically  granted.  In 
communicating  this  result,  I  cannot  resist  the  obligation 
which  I  feel,  to  suggest  to  Congress  the  propriety  of  rec 
ommending  to  the  states  an  adoption  of  an  amendment  to 
the  constitution,  which  shall  give  Congress  the  right  in 
question.  In  cases  of  doubtful  construction,  especially  of 
such  vital  interest,  it  comports  with  the  nature  and  origin 
of  our  republican  institutions,  and  will  contribute  much  to 
preserve  them,  to  apply  to  our  constituents  for  an  explicit 
grant  of  the  power.  We  may  confidently  rely,  that  if  it 
appears  to  their  satisfaction  that  the  power  is  necessary,  it 
will  be  granted. 

In  this  case,  I  am  happy  to  observe,  that  experience  has 
afforded  the  most  ample  proof  of  its  utility,  and  that  the 
benign  spirit  of  conciliation  and  harmony,  which  now 
manifests  itself  throughout  our  Union,  promises  to  such  a 


MONROE'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  105 

recommendation  the  most  prompt  and  favorable  result.  I 
think  proper  to  suggest,  also,  in  case  this  measure  is 
adopted,  that  it  be  recommended  to  the  states  to  include  in 
the  amendment  sought,  a  right  in  Congress  to  institute, 
likewise,  seminaries  of  learning,  for  the  all-important  pur 
pose  of  diffusing  knowledge  among  our  fellow-citizens 
throughout  the  United  States. 

Our  manufactures  will  require  the  continued  attention 
of  Congress.  The  capital  employed  in  them  is  consider 
able,  and  the  knowledge  required  in  the  machinery  and 
fabric  of  all  the  most  useful  manufactures  is  of  great  value. 
Their  preservation,  which  depends  on  due  encouragement, 
is  connected  with  the  high  interests  of  the  nation. 

Although  the  progress  of  the  public  buildings  has  been 
as  favorable  as  circumstances  have  permitted,  it  is  to  be 
regretted  the  capitol  is  not  yet  in  a  state  to  receive  you. 
There  is  good  cause  to  presume  that  the  two  wings,  the 
only  parts  as  yet  commenced,  will  be  prepared  for  that 
purpose  the  next  session.  The  time  seems  now  to  have 
arrived,  when  this  subject  may  be  deemed  worthy  of  the 
attention  of  Congress,  on  a  scale  adequate  to  national  pur 
poses.  The  completion  of  the  middle  building  will  be 
necessary  to  the  convenient  accommodation  of  Congress, 
of  the  committees,  and  various  officers  belonging  to  it.  It 
is  evident  that  the  other  public  buildings  are  altogether  in 
sufficient  for  the  accommodation  of  the  several  executive 
departments ;  some  of  whom  are  much  crowded,  and  even 
subject  to  the  necessity  of  obtaining  it  in  private  buildings, 
at  some  distance  from  the  head  of  the  department,  and 
with  inconvenience  to  the  management  of  the  public 
business.  Most  nations  have  taken  an  interest  and  a  pride 
in  the  improvement  and  ornament  of  their  metropolis,  and 
none  were  more  conspicuous  in  that  respect  than  the  an 
cient  republics.  The  policy  which  dictated  the  establish 
ment  of  a  permanent  residence  Cor  the  national  govern 
ment,  and  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  commenced  and  has 
been  prosecuted,  show  that  such  improvement  was  thought 
worthy  the  attention  of  this  nation.  Its  central  position, 
between  the  northern  and  southern  extremes  of  our  Union, 
and  its  approach  to  the  west,  at  the  head  of  a  great  navi- 


106  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

gable  river,  which  interlocks  with  the  western  waters,  prove 
the  wisdom  of  the  councils  which  established  it. 

Nothing  appears  to  be  more  reasonable  and  proper, 
than  that  convenient  accommodation  should  be  provided, 
on  a  well-digested  plan,  for  the  heads  of  the  several  de 
partments,  and  for  the  attorney-general ;  and  it  is  believed 
that  the  public  ground  in  the  city,  applied  to  these  objects, 
will  be  found  amply  sufficient.  I  submit  this  subject  to 
the  consideration  of  Congress,  that  such  provision  may 
be  made  in  it  as  to  them  may  seem  proper. 

In  contemplating  the  happy  situation  of  the  United 
States,  our  attention  is  drawn,  with  peculiar  interest,  to 
the  surviving  officers  and  soldiers  of  our  revolutionary 
army,  who  so  eminently  contributed,  by  their  services,  to 
lay  its  foundation.  Most  of  those  very  meritorious  citi 
zens  have  paid  the  debt  of  nature  and  gone  to  repose.  It 
is  believed,  that  among  the  survivors  there  are  some  not 
provided  for  by  existing  laws,  who  are  reduced  to  indi 
gence,  and  even  to  real  distress.  These  men  have  a 
claim  on  the  gratitude  of  their  country,  and  it  will  do 
honor  to  their  country  to  provide  for  them.  The  lapse 
of  a  few  years  more,  and  the  opportunity  will  be  forever 
lost ;  indeed,  so  long,  already,  has  been  the  interval,  that 
the  number  to  be  benefited  by  any  provision  which  may 
be  made,  will  not  be  great. 

It  appearing  in  a  satisfactory  manner  that  the  revenue 
arising  from  imposts  and  tonnage,  and  from  the  sale  of 
public  lands,  will  be  fully  adequate  to  the  support  of  the 
civil  government,  of  the  present  military  and  naval  estab 
lishments,  including  the  annual  augmentation  of  the  latter 
to  the  extent  provided  for,  to  the  payment  of  the  interest 
on  the  public  debt,  and  to  the  extinguishment  of  it  at  the 
times  authorized,  without  the  aid  of  the  internal  taxes,  I 
consider  it  my  duty  to  recommend  to  Congress  their  re 
peal.  To  impose  taxes  when  the  public  exigencies 
require  them,  is  an  obligation  of  the  most  sacred  charac 
ter,  especially  with  a  free  people.  The  faithful  fulfilment 
of  it  is  among  the  highest  proofs  of  their  virtue  and  ca 
pacity  for  self-government.  To  dispense  with  taxes, 
when  it  may  be  done  with  perfect  safety,  is  equally  the 


J.  Q,.   ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.          107 

duty  of  their  representatives.  In  this  instance,  we  have 
the  satisfaction  to  know  that  they  were  imposed  when  the 
demand  was  imperious,  and  have  been  sustained  with 
exemplary  fidelity.  I  have  to  add,  that,  however  gratify 
ing  it  may  be  to  me,  regarding  the  prosperous  and  happy 
condition  of  our  country,  to  recommend  the  repeal  of 
these  taxes  at  this  time,  I  shall,  nevertheless,  be  attentive 
to  events,  and,  should  any  future  emergency  occur,  be  not 
less  prompt  to  suggest  such  measures  and  burdens  as  may 
then  be  requisite  and  proper. 


J.  a  ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

MARCH  4,  1825. 

IN  compliance  with  a  usage  coeval  with  the  existence 
of  our  federal  constitution,  and  sanctioned  by  the  example 
of  my  predecessors  in  the  career  upon  which  I  am  about 
to  enter,  I  appear,  my  fellow-citizens,  in  your  presence, 
and  in  that  of  Heaven,  to  bind  myself,  by  the  solemnities 
of  a  religious  obligation,  to  the  faithful  performance  of  the 
duties  allotted  to  me,  in  the  station  to  which  I  have  been 
called. 

In  unfolding  to  my  countrymen  the  principles  by  which 
I  shall  be  governed  in  the  fulfilment  of  those  duties,  my 
first  resort  will  be  to  that  constitution,  which  I  shall 
swear,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  to  preserve,  protect,  and 
defend.  That  revered  instrument  enumerates  the  powers 
and  prescribes  the  duties  of  the  executive  magistrate  ;  and, 
in  its  first  words,  declares  the  purposes  to  which  these, 
and  the  whole  action  of  the  government,  instituted  by  it, 
should  be  invariably  and  sacredly  devoted  —  to  form  a 
more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tran 
quillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the 
general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to 
the  people  of  this  Union,  in  their  successive  generations. 
Since  the  adoption  of  this  social  compact,  one  of  these 
generations  has  passed  away.  It  is  the  work  of  our 


108  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

forefathers.  Administered  by  some  of  the  most  eminent 
men  who  contributed  to  its  formation,  through  a  most 
eventful  period  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  and  through 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  peace  and  war,  incidental  to  the 
condition  of  associated  man,  it  has  not  disappointed  the 
hopes  and  aspirations  of  those  illustrious  benefactors  of 
their  age  and  nation.  It  has  promoted  the  lasting  wel 
fare  of  that  country,  so  dear  to  us  all ;  it  has,  to  an  extent 
far  beyond  the  ordinary  lot  of  humanity,  secured  the 
freedom  and  happiness  of  this  people.  We  now  receive 
it  as  a  precious  inheritance  from  those  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  its  establishment,  doubly  bound  by  the  ex 
amples  they  have  left  us,  and  by  the  blessings  which  we 
have  enjoyed,  as  the  fruits  of  their  labors,  to  transmit  the 
same,  unimpaired,  to  the  succeeding  generations. 

In  the  compass  of  thirty-six  years,  since  this  great 
national  covenant  was  instituted,  a  body  of  laws  enacted 
under  its  authority,  and  in  conformity  with  its  provisions, 
has  unfolded  its  powers,  and  carried  into  practical  opera 
tion  its  effective  energies.  Subordinate  departments  have 
distributed  the  executive  functions  in  their  various  rela 
tions  to  foreign  affairs,  to  the  revenue  and  expenditures, 
and  to  the  military  force  of  the  Union  by  land  and  sea. 
A  coordinate  department  of  the  judiciary  has  expounded 
the  constitution  and  the  laws;  settling,  in  harmonious 
coincidence  with  the  legislative  will,  numerous  weighty 
questions  of  construction  which  the  imperfection  of  hu 
man  language  had  rendered  unavoidable.  The  year  of 
jubilee  since  the  first  formation  of  our  Union  has  just 
elapsed;  that  of  the  declaration  of  independence  is  at 
hand.  The  consummation  of  both  was  effected  by  this 
constitution.  Since  that  period,  a  population  of  four 
millions  has  multiplied  to  twelve.  A  territory,  bounded 
by  the  Mississippi,  has  been  extended  from  sea  to  sea. 
New  states  have  been  admitted  to  the  Union,  in  numbers 
nearly  equal  to  those  of  the  first  confederation.  Treaties 
of  peace,  amity,  and  commerce,  have  been  concluded  with 
the  principal  dominions  of  the  earth.  The  people  of 
other  nations,  the  inhabitants  of  regions  acquired,  not  by 
conquest,  but  by  compact,  have  been  united  with  us  in  the 
participation  of  our  rights  and  duties,  of  our  burdens  and 


j.   q,.   ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.          109 

blessings.  The  forest  has  fallen  by  the  axe  of  our  woods 
men  ;  the  soil  has  been  made  to  teem  by  the  tillage  of 
our  farmers ;  our  commerce  has  whitened  every  ocean. 
The  dominion  of  man  over  physical  nature  has  been  ex 
tended  by  the  invention  of  our  artists.  Liberty  and  law 
have  marched  hand  in  hand.  All  the  purposes  of  human 
association  have  been  accomplished  as  effectively  as  un 
der  any  other  government  on  the  globe,  and  at  a  cost 
little  exceeding,  in  a  whole  generation,  the  expenditures 
of  other  nations  in  a  single  year. 

Such  is  the  unexaggerated  picture  of  our  condition 
under  a  constitution  founded  upon  the  republican  princi 
ple  of  equal  rights.  To  admit  that  this  picture  has  its 
shades,  is  but  to  say  that  it  is  still  the  condition  of  men 
upon  earth.  From  evil,  physical,  moral,  and  political,  it 
is  not  our  claim  to  be  exempt.  We  have  suffered  some 
times  by  the  visitation  of  Heaven,  through  disease ;  often 
by  the  wrongs  and  injustices  of  other  nations,  even  to  the 
extremities  of  war  :  and  lastly,  by  dissensions  among  our 
selves  —  dissensions,  perhaps,  inseparable  from  the  enjoy 
ment  of  freedom,  but  which  have  more  than  once  appeared 
to  threaten  the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  and,  with  it,  the 
overthrow  of  all  the  enjoyments  of  our  present  lot,  and 
all  our  earthly  hopes  of  the  future.  The  causes  of  these 
dissensions  have  been  various,  founded  upon  differences 
of  speculation  in  the  theory  of  republican  government; 
upon  conflicting  views  of  policy,  in  our  relations  with 
foreign  nations ;  upon  jealousies  of  partial  and  sectional 
interests,  aggravated  by  prejudices  and  prepossessions, 
which  strangers  to  each  other  are  ever  apt  to  entertain. 

It  is  a  source  of  gratification  and  of  encouragement  to 
me,  to  observe  that  the  great  result  of  this  experiment 
upon  the  theory  of  human  rights  has,  at  the  close  of  that 
generation  by  which  it  was  formed,  been  crowned  with 
success  equal  to  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  its 
founders.  Union,  justice,  tranquillity,  the  common  de 
fence,  the  general  welfare,  and  the  blessings  of  liberty,  all 
have  been  promoted  by  the  government  under  which  we 
have  lived.  Standing  at  this  point  of  time;  looking  back 
to  that  generation  which  has  gone  by,  and  forward  to  that 
which  is  advancing,  we  may  at  once  indulge  in  grateful 
10 


110  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

exultation  and  in  cheering  hope.  From  the  experience 
of  the  past,  we  derive  instructive  lessons  for  the  future. 
Of  the  two  great  political  parties  which  have  divided  the 
opinions  and  feelings  of  our  country,  the  candid  and  the 
just  will  now  admit  that  both  have  contributed  splendid 
talents,  spotless  integrity,  ardent  patriotism,  and  disinter 
ested  sacrifices,  to  the  formation  and  administration  of  this 
government ;  and  that  both  have  required  a  liberal  indul 
gence  for  a  portion  of  human  infirmity  and  error.  The 
revolutionary  wars  of  Europe,  commencing  precisely  at 
the  moment  when  the  government  of  the  United  States 
first  went  into  operation  under  this  constitution,  excited 
a  collision  of  sentiments  and  of  sympathies,  which  kin 
dled  all  the  passions,  and  imbittered  the  conflict  of  par 
ties,  till  the  nation  was  involved  in  war,  and  the  Union 
was  shaken  to  its  centre.  This  time  of  trial  embraced  a 
period  of  five-and-twenty  years,  during  which  the  policy 
of  the  Union,  in  its  relations  with  Europe,  constituted 
the  principal  basis  of  our  political  divisions,  and  the  most 
arduous  part  of  the  action  of  our  federal  government. 
With  the  catastrophe  in  which  the  wars  of  the  French 
revolution  terminated,  and  our  own  subsequent  peace 
with  Great  Britain,  this  baneful  weed  of  party  strife  was 
uprooted.  From  that  time,  no  difference  of  principle, 
connected  either  with  the  theory  of  government,  or  with 
our  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  has  existed,  or  been 
called  forth  in  force  sufficient  to  sustain  a  continued  com 
bination  of  parties,  or  give  more  than  wholesome  ani 
mation  to  public  sentiment  or  legislative  debate.  Our 
political  creed  is,  without  a  dissenting  voice  that  can  be 
heard,  that  the  will  of  the  people  is  the  source,  and  the 
happiness  of  the  people  the  end,  of  all  legitimate  govern 
ment  upon  earth.  That  the  best  security  for  the  benefi 
cence,  and  the  best  guaranty  against  the  abuse  of  power, 
consists  in  the  freedom,  the  purity,  and  the  frequency  of 
popular  elections ;  that  the  general  government  of  the 
Union,  and  the  separate  governments  of  the  states,  are 
all  sovereignties  of  legitimated  powers  —  fellow-servants 
of  the  same  masters,  uncontrolled  within  their  respective 
spheres,  uncontrollable  by  encroachments  upon  each  oth 
er  ;  that  the  firmest  security  of  peace  is  the  prepara- 


j.   Q.  ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.          Ill 

tion  during  peace  of  the  defences  of  war ;  that  a  rigor 
ous  economy,  and  accountability  of  public  expenditures, 
should  guard  against  the  aggravation,  and  alleviate,  when 
possible,  the  burden  of  taxation  ;  that  the  military  should 
be  kept  in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil  power  ;  that 
the  freedom  of  the  press  and  of  religious  opinion  should 
be  inviolate  ;  that  the  policy  of  our  country  is  peace, 
and  the  ark  of  our  salvation  union,  —  are  articles  of  faith 
upon  which  we  are  all  agreed.  If  there  have  been  those 
who  doubted  whether  a  confederated  representative  de 
mocracy  were  a  government  competent  to  the  wise  and 
orderly  management  of  the  common  concerns  of  a  mighty 
nation,  those  doubts  have  been  dispelled.  If  there  have 
been  projects  of  partial  confederacies  to  be  erected  upon 
the  ruins  of  the  Union,  they  have  been  scattered  to  the 
winds.  If  there  have  been  dangerous  attachments  to  one 
foreign  nation,  and  antipathies  against  another,  they  have 
been  extinguished.  Ten  years  of  peace,  at  home  and 
abroad,  have  assuaged  the  animosities  of  political  conten 
tion,  and  blended  into  harmony  the  most  discordant  ele 
ments  of  public  opinion.  There  still  remains  one  effort 
of  magnanimity,  one  sacrifice  of  prejudice  and  passion,  to 
be  made  by  the  individuals  throughout  the  nation,  who 
have  heretofore  followed  the  standard  of  political  party. 
It  is  that  of  discarding  every  remnant  of  rancor  against 
each  other ;  of  embracing  as  countrymen  arid  friends ; 
and  of  yielding  to  talents  and  virtue  alone  that  confi 
dence  which,  in  times  of  contention  for  principle,  was 
bestowed  only  upon  those  who  bore  the  badge  of  party 
communion. 

The  collisions  of  party  spirit,  which  originated  in  specu 
lative  opinions,  or  in  different  views  of  administrative 
policy,  are  in  their  nature  transitory.  Those  which  are 
founded  on  geographical  divisions,  adverse  interests  of 
soil,  climate,  and  modes  of  domestic  life,  are  more  per 
manent,  and  therefore,  perhaps,  more  dangerous.  It  is 
this  which  gives  inestimable  value  to  the  character  of  our 
government,  at  once  federal  and  national.  It  holds  out 
to  us  a  perpetual  admonition  to  preserve  alike,  and  with 
equal  anxiety,  the  rights  of  each  individual  state  in  its 
own  government,  and  the  rights  of  the  whole  nation  in 


112  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

that  of  the  Union.  Whatever  is  of  domestic  concernment, 
unconnected  with  the  other  members  of  the  Union,  or  with 
f3reign  lands,  belongs  exclusively  to  the  administration  of 
the  state  governments.  Whatsoever  directly  involves  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  federative  fraternity,  or  of  for 
eign  powers,  is  of  the  resort  of  this  general  government. 
The  duties  of  both  are  obvious  in  the  general  principle, 
though  sometimes  perplexed  with  difficulties  in  the  detail. 
To  respect  the  rights  of  the  state  governments  is  the 
inviolable  duty  of  that  of  the  Union  ;  the  government  of 
every  state  will  feel  its  own  obligation  to  respect  and 
preserve  the  rights  of  the  whole.  The  prejudices  every 
where  too  commonly  entertained  against  distant  strangers 
are  worn  away,  and  the  jealousies  of  jarring  interests  are 
allayed  by  the  composition  and  functions  of  the  great 
national  councils  annually  assembled  from  all  quarters  of 
the  Union  at  this  place.  Here  the  distinguished  men  from 
every  section  of  our  country,  while  meeting  to  deliberate 
upon  the  great  interests  of  those  by  whom  they  are  de 
puted,  learn  to  estimate  the  talents,  and  do  justice  to  the 
virtues,  of  each  other.  The  harmony  of  the  nation  is 
promoted,  and  the  whole  Union  is  knit  together  by  the 
sentiments  of  mutual  respect,  the  habits  of  social  inter 
course,  and  the  ties  of  personal  friendship,  formed  between 
the  representatives  of  its  several  parts,  in  the  performance 
of  their  service  at  this  metropolis. 

Passing  from  this  general  review  of  the  purposes  and 
injunctions  of  the  federal  constitution  and  their  results, 
as  indicating  the  first  traces  of  the  path  of  duty  in  the 
discharge  of  my  public  trust,  I  turn  to  the  administration 
of  my  immediate  predecessor,  as  the  second.  It  has  passed 
away  in  a  period  of  profound  peace  ;  how  much  to  the  sat 
isfaction  of  our  country,  and  to  the  honor  of  our  country's 
name,  is  known  to  you  all.  The  great  features  of  its 
policy,  in  general  concurrence  with  the  will  of  the  legis 
lature,  have  been  —  to  cherish  peace  while  preparing  for 
defensive  war  ;  to  yield  exact  justice  to  other  nations,  and 
maintain  the  rights  of  our  own ;  to  cherish  the  principles 
of  freedom  and  of  equal  rights,  wherever  they  were  pro 
claimed  ;  to  discharge  with  all  possible  promptitude  the 
national  debt :  to  reduce  within  the  narrowest  limits 


j.  Q.  ADAMS'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.          113 

of  efficiency  the  military  force  ;  to  improve  the  organiza 
tion  and  discipline  of  the  army  ;  to  provide  and  sustain  a 
school  of  military  science;  to  extend  equal  protection  to 
all  the  great  interests  of  the  nation ;  to  promote  the  civil 
ization  of  the  Indian  tribes ;  and  to  proceed  in  the  great 
system  of  internal  improvements  within  the  limits  of  the 
constitutional  power  of  the  Union.  Under  the  pledge  of 
these  promises,  made  by  that  eminent  citizen,  at  the  time 
of  his  first  induction  to  this  office,  in  his  career  of  eight 
years,  the  internal  taxes  have  been  repealed  :  sixty  millions 
of  the  public  debt  have  been  discharged;  provision  has 
been  made  for  the  comfort  and  relief  of  the  aged  and  in 
digent  among  the  surviving  warriors  of  the  revolution;  the 
regular  armed  force  has  been  reduced,  and  its  constitution 
revised  and  perfected ;  the  accountability  for  the  expend 
itures  of  public  moneys  has  been  made  more  effective  ; 
the  Floridas  have  been  peaceably  acquired,  and  our  boun 
dary  has  been  extended  to  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  the  independ 
ence  of  the  southern  nations  of  this  hemisphere  has  been 
recognized,  and  recommended  by  example  and  by  counsel 
to  the  potentates  of  Europe ;  progress  has  been  made  in 
the  defence  of  the  country  by  fortifications,  and  the  increase 
of  the  navy  —  towards  the  effectual  suppression  of  the 
African  traffic  in  slaves  —  in  alluring  the  aboriginal  hunt 
ers  of  our  land  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  and  of  the 
mind  —  in  exploring  the  interior  regions  of  the  Union, 
and  in  preparing,  by  scientific  researches  and  surveys,  for 
the  further  application  of  our  national  resources  to  the 
internal  improvement  of  our  country. 

In  this  brief  outline  of  the  promise  and  performance  of 
my  immediate  predecessor,  the  line  of  duty  for  his  suc 
cessor  is  clearly  delineated.  To  pursue  to  their  consum 
mation  those  purposes  of  improvement  in  our  common 
condition,  instituted  or  recommended  by  him,  will  embrace 
the  whole  sphere  of  my  obligations.  To  the  topic  of  in 
ternal  improvement,  emphatically  urged  by  him  at  his 
inauguration,  I  recur  with  peculiar  satisfaction.  It  is  that 
from  which  I  am  convinced  that  the  unborn  millions  of 
our  posterity,  who  are  in  future  ages  to  people  this  con 
tinent,  will  derive  their  most  fervent  gratitude  to  the 
founders  of  the  Union ;  that  in  which  the  beneficent  action 
10* 


114  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

of  its  government  will  be  most  deeply  felt  and  acknowl 
edged.  The  magnificence  and  splendor  of  their  public 
works  are  among  the  imperishable  glories  of  the  ancient 
republics.  The  roads  and  aqueducts  of  Rome  have 
been  the  admiration  of  all  after-ages,  and  have  survived 
thousands  of  years,  after  all  her  conquests  have  been 
swallowed  up  in  despotism,  or  become  the  spoil  of  bar 
barians.  Some  diversity  of  opinion  has  prevailed  with 
regard  to  the  powers  of  Congress  for  legislation  upon  ob 
jects  of  this  nature.  The  most  respectful  deference  is  due 
to  doubts,  originating  in  pure  patriotism,  and  sustained  by 
venerated  authority.  But  nearly  twenty  years  have  passed 
since  the  construction  of  the  first  national  road  was  com 
menced.  The  authority  for  its  construction  was  then  un 
questioned.  To  how  many  thousands  of  our  countrymen 
has  it  proved  a  benefit !  To  what  single  individual  has 
it  ever  proved  an  injury  ?  Repeated,  liberal,  and  candid 
discussions  in  the  legislature  have  conciliated  the  sen 
timents,  and  approximated  the  opinions  of  enlightened 
minds,  upon  the  question  of  constitutional  power.  I  can 
not  but  hope  that,  by  the  same  process  of  friendly,  patient, 
and  persevering  deliberation,  all  constitutional  objections 
will  ultimately  be  removed.  The  extent  and  limitation  of 
the  powers  of  the  general  government,  in  relation  to  this 
transcendently  important  interest,  will  be  settled  and  ac 
knowledged  to  the  common  satisfaction  of  all ;  and  every 
speculative  scruple  will  be  solved  by  a  practical  public 
blessing. 

Fellow-citizens,  you  are  acquainted  with  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  recent  elections,  which  have  resulted 
in  affording  me  the  opportunity  of  addressing  you  at  this 
time.  You  have  heard  the  exposition  of  the  principles 
which  will  direct  me  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  high  and 
solemn  trust  imposed  upon  me  in  this  station.  Less  pos 
sessed  of  your  confidence  in  advance  than  any  of  my 
predecessors,  I  am  deeply  conscious  of  the  prospect  that 
I  shall  stand,  more  and  oftener,  in  need  of  your  indulgence. 
Intentions,  upright  and  pure ;  a  heart  devoted  to  the  wel 
fare  of  our  country,  and  the  unceasing  application  of  the 
faculties  allotted  to  me  to  her  service,  are  all  the  pledges 
that  I  can  give  to  the  faithful  performance  of  the  arduous 


j.   Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.      115 

duties  I  am  to  undertake.  To  the  guidance  of  the  legis 
lative  councils;  to  the  assistance  of  the  executive  and 
subordinate  departments;  to  the  friendly  cooperation  of 
the  respective  state  governments ;  to  the  candid  and  liberal 
support  of  the  people,  so  far  as  it  may  be  deserved  by 
honest  industry  and  zeal,  I  shall  look  for  whatever  success 
may  attend  my  public  service ;  and  knowing  that,  except 
the  Lord  keep  the  city,  the  watchman  waketh  but  in  vain, 
with  fervent  supplications  for  his  favor,  to  his  overruling 
providence  I  commit,  with  humble  but  fearless  confidence, 
my  own  fate  and  the  future  destinies  of  my  country. 


J.  Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

DECEMBER  6,  1825. 

To  the  Senate  and 

House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States : 

IN  taking  a  general  survey  of  the  concerns  of  our  be 
loved  country,  with  reference  to  subjects  interesting  to  the 
common  welfare,  the  first  sentiment  which  impresses  itself 
upon  the  mind,  is  of  gratitude  to  the  Omnipotent  Disposer 
of  all  good,  for  the  continuance  of  the  signal  blessings  of 
his  providence,  and  especially  for  that  health  which,  to  an 
unusual  extent,  has  prevailed  within  our  borders  ;  and  for 
that  abundance  which,  in  the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons, 
has  been  scattered  with  profusion  over  our  land.  Nor 
ought  we  less  to  ascribe  to  Him  the  glory,  that  we  are 
permitted  to  enjoy  the  bounties  of  his  hand  in  peace  and 
tranquillity  —  in  peace  with  all  the  other  nations  of  the 
earth,  in  tranquillity  among  ourselves.  There  has,  indeed, 
rarely  been  a  period  in  the  history  of  civilized  man,  in 
which  the  general  condition  of  the  Christian  nations  has 
been  marked  so  extensively  by  peace  and  prosperity. 

Europe,  with  a  few  partial  and  unhappy  exceptions,  has 
enjoyed  ten  years  of  peace,  during  which  all  her  govern 
ments,  whatever  the  theory  of  their  constitutions  may  have 
been,  are  successively  taught  to  feel  that  the  end  of  their 


116  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

institutions  is  the  happiness  of  the  people,  and  that  the 
exercise  of  power  among  men  can  be  justified  only  by  the 
blessings  it  confers  upon  those  over  whom  it  is  extended. 

During  the  same  period,  our  intercourse  with  all  those 
nations  has  been  pacific  and  friendly ;  it  so  continues. 
Since  the  close  of  your  late  session,  no  material  variation 
has  occurred  in  our  relations  with  any  one  of  them.  In 
the  commercial  and  navigation  system  of  Great  Britain, 
important  changes  of  municipal  regulations  have  recently 
been  sanctioned  by  the  acts  of  parliament,  the  effect  of 
which  upon  the  interests  of  other  nations,  and  particularly 
upon  ours,  has  not  yet  been  fully  developed.  In  the  recent 
renewal  of  the  diplomatic  missions,  on  both  sides,  between 
the  two  governments,  assurances  have  been  given  and  re 
ceived  of  the  continuance  and  increase  of  the  mutual 
confidence  and  cordiality  by  which  the  adjustment  of  many 
points  of  difference  has  already  been  effected,  and  which 
affords  the  surest  pledge  for  the  ultimate  satisfactory  ad 
justment  of  those  which  still  remain  open,  or  may  here 
after  arise. 

The  policy  of  the  United  States,  in  their  commercial 
intercourse  with  other  nations,  has  always  been  of  the 
most  liberal  character.  In  the  mutual  exchange  of  their 
respective  productions,  they  have  abstained  altogether  from 
prohibitions ;  they  have  interdicted  themselves  the  power 
of  laying  taxes  upon  exports,  and  whenever  they  have 
favored  their  own  shipping,  by  special  preferences  or  ex 
clusive  privileges  in  their  own  ports,  it  has  been  only  with 
a  view  to  countervail  similar  favors  and  exclusions  granted 
by  the  nations  with  whom  we  have  been  engaged  in  traffic, 
to  their  own  people  or  shipping,  and  to  the  disadvantage 
of  ours.  Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  last  war,  a 
proposal  was  fairly  made  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  3d 
March,  1815,  to  all  maritime  nations,  to  lay  aside  the  sys 
tem  of  retaliating  restrictions  and  exclusions,  and  to  place 
the  shipping  of  both  parties  to  the  common  trade  on  a 
footing  of  equality  in  respect  to  the  duties  of  tonnage  and 
impost.  This  offer  was  partially  and  successively  accepted 
by  Great  Britain,  Sweden,  the  Netherlands,  the  Hanseatic 
cities,  Prussia,  Sardinia,  the  Duke  of  Oldenburg,  and  Rus 
sia.  It  was  also  adopted,  under  certain  modifications,  in 


j.  Q,.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       117 

our  late  commercial  convention  with  France.  And  by  the 
act  of  Congress  of  the  8th  of  January,  1824,  it  has  received 
a  new  confirmation  with  all  the  nations  who  had  acceded 
to  it,  and  has  been  offered  again  to  all  those  who  are  or 
may  hereafter  be  willing  to  abide  in  reciprocity  by  it.  But 
all  these  regulations,  whether  established  by  treaty  or  by 
municipal  enactments,  are  still  subject  to  one  important 
restriction. 

The  removal  of  discriminating  duties  of  tonnage  and 
impost,  is  limited  to  articles  of  the  growth,  produce,  or 
manufacture  of  the  country  to  which  the  vessel  belongs, 
or  to  such  articles  as  are  most  universally  shipped  from 
her  ports.  It  will  deserve  the  serious  consideration  of 
Congress,  whether  even  this  remnant  of  restriction  may 
not  be  safely  abandoned,  and  whether  the  general  tender  of 
equal  competition,  made  in  the  act  of  8th  January,  1824, 
may  not  be  extended  to  include  all  articles  of  merchandise 
not  prohibited,  of  what  country  soever  they  may  be  the 
produce  or  manufacture.  Propositions  to  this  effect  have 
already  been  made  to  us  by  more  than  one  European  gov 
ernment,  and  it  is  probable  that  if  once  established  by 
legislation  or  compact  with  any  distinguished  maritime 
state,  it  would  recommend  itself,  by  the  experience  of  its 
advantages,  to  the  general  accession  of  all. 

The  convention  of  commerce  and  navigation  between 
the  United  States  and  France,  concluded  on  the  24th  of 
June,  1822,  was,  in  the  understanding  and  intent  of  both 
parties,  as  appears  upon  its  face,  only  a  temporary  arrange 
ment  of  the  points  of  difference  between  them  of  the  most 
immediate  and  pressing  urgency.  It  was  limited,  in  the 
first  instance,  to  two  years  from  the  1st  of  October,  1822, 
but  with  a  proviso,  that  it  should  further  continue  in  force 
till  the  conclusion  of  a  general  and  definitive  treaty  of 
commerce,  unless  terminated  by  a  notice  six  months  in 
advance,  of  either  of  the  parties  to  the  other.  Its  opera 
tion,  so  far  as  it  extended,  has  been  mutually  advantageous; 
and  it  still  continues  in  force  by  common  consent.  But  it 
left  unadjusted  several  objects  of  great  interest  to  the  cit 
izens  and  subjects  of  both  countries,  and  particularly  a 
mass  of  claims,  to  considerable  amount,  of  citizens  of  the 
United  States  upon  the  government  of  France,  of  indem- 


118  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

nity  for  property  taken  or  destroyed,  under  circumstances 
of  the  most  aggravated  and  outrageous  character.  In  the 
long  period  during  which  continued  and  earnest  appeals 
have  been  made  to  the  equity  and  magnanimity  of  France, 
in  behalf  of  those  claims,  their  justice  has  not  been,  as  it 
could  not  be,  denied.  It  was  hoped  that  the  accession  of 
a  new  sovereign  to  the  throne,  would  have  afforded  a  favor 
able  opportunity  for  presenting  them  to  the  consideration 
of  his  government.  They  have  been  presented  and  urged, 
hitherto  without  effect.  The  repeated  and  earnest  represen 
tations  of  our  minister  at  the  court  of  France,  remain  as 
yet  even  without  an  answer.  Were  the  demands  of  nations 
upon  the  justice  of  each  other  susceptible  of  adjudication  by 
the  decision  of  an  impartial  tribunal,  those  to  whom  I  now 
refer  would  long  since  have  been  settled,  and  adequate 
indemnity  would  have  been  obtained.  There  are  large 
amounts  of  similar  claims  upon  the  Netherlands,  Naples, 
and  Denmark.  For  those  upon  Spain,  prior  to  1819,  in 
demnity  was,  after  many  years  of  patient  forbearance,  ob 
tained,  and  those  of  Sweden  have  been  lately  compromised 
by  a  private  settlement,  in  which  the  claimants  themselves 
have  acquiesced.  The  governments  of  Denmark  and  of 
Naples  have  been  recently  reminded  of  those  yet  existing 
against  them  ;  nor  will  any  of  them  be  forgotten  while  a 
hope  may  be  indulged  of  obtaining  justice,  by  the  means 
within  the  constitutional  power  of  the  executive,  and  with 
out  resorting  to  those  means  of  self-redress,  which,  as  well 
as  the  time,  circumstances,  and  occasion,  which  may  re 
quire  them,  are  within  the  exclusive  competency  of  the 
legislature. 

It  is  with  great  satisfaction  that  I  am  enabled  to  bear 
witness  to  the  liberal  spirit  with  which  the  republic  of 
Colombia  has  made  satisfaction  for  well-established  claims 
of  a  similar  character.  And  among  the  documents  now 
communicated  to  Congress,  will  be  distinguished  a  treaty 
of  commerce  and  navigation  with  that  republic,  the  ratifi 
cations  of  which  have  been  exchanged  since  the  last  recess 
of  the  legislature.  The  negotiation  of  similar  treaties 
with  all  the  independent  South  American  states,  has  been 
contemplated,  and  may  yet  be  accomplished.  The  basis 
of  them  all,  as  proposed  by  the  United  States,  has  been 


j.  Q,.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       119 

laid  in  two  principles;  the  one,  of  entire  and  unqualified 
reciprocity;  the  other,  the  mutual  obligation  of  the  parties 
to  place  each  other  permanently  on  the  footing  of  the  most 
favored  nation.  These  principles  are,  indeed,  indispen 
sable  to  the  effectual  emancipation  of  the  American  hemi 
sphere  from  the  thraldom  of  colonizing  monopolies  and 
exclusions  —  an  event  rapidly  realizing  in  the  progress  of 
human  affairs,  and  which  the  resistance  still  opposed  in 
certain  parts  of  Europe  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the 
Southern  American  republics  as  independent  states,  will, 
it  is  believed,  contribute  more  effectually  to  accomplish. 
The  time  has  been,  and  that  not  remote,  when  some  of 
these  states  might,  in  their  anxious  desire  to  obtain  a  nomi 
nal  recognition,  have  accepted  of  a  nominal  independence, 
clogged  Nvith  burdensome  conditions,  and  exclusive  com 
mercial  privileges,  granted  to  the  nation  from  which  they 
have  separated,  to  the  disadvantage  of  all  others.  They 
now  are  all  aware  that  such  concessions  to  any  European 
nation  would  be  incompatible  with  that  independence  which 
they  have  declared  and  maintained. 

Among  the  measures  which  have  been  suggested  to 
them  by  the  new  relations  with  one  another,  resulting  from 
the  recent  changes  in  their  condition,  is  that  of  assembling 
at  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  a  Congress,  at  which  each  of 
them  should  be  represented,  to  deliberate  upon  objects  im 
portant  to  the  welfare  of  all.  The  republics  of  Colombia, 
of  Mexico,  and  of  Central  America,  have  already  deputed 
plenipotentiaries  to  such  a  meeting,  and  they  have  invited 
the  United  States  to  be  also  represented  there  by  their 
ministers.  The  invitation  has  been  accepted,  and  ministers 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States  will  be  commissioned  to 
attend  at  those  deliberations,  and  to  take  part  in  them,  so 
far  as  it  maybe  compatible  with  that  neutrality  from  which 
it  is  neither  our  intention  nor  the  desire  of  the  American 
states  that  we  should  depart. 

The  commissioners  under  the  seventh  article  of  the 
treaty  of  Ghent  have  so  nearly  completed  their  arduous 
labors,  that,  by  the  report  recently  received  from  their 
agent  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  there  is  reason  to 
expect  that  the  commission  will  be  closed  at  their  next 
session,  appointed  for  the  22d  of  May,  of  the  ensuing  year. 


120  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

The  other  commission,  appointed  to  ascertain  the  in 
demnities  due  for  slaves  carried  away  from  the  United 
States,  after  the  close  of  the  late  war,  have  met  with  some 
difficulty,  which  has  delayed  their  progress  in  the  inquiry. 
A  reference  has  been  made  to  the  British  government  on  the 
subject,  which,  it  may  be  hoped,  will  tend  to  hasten  the  de 
cision  of  the  commissioners,  or  serve  as  a  substitute  for  it. 

Among  the  powers  specifically  granted  to  Congress  by 
the  constitution,  are  those  of  establishing  uniform  laws  on 
the  subject  of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States ; 
and  for  providing  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining 
the  militia,  and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be 
employed  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  The  mag 
nitude  and  complexity  of  the  interests  affected  by  legisla 
tion  upon  these  subjects,  may  account  for  the  fact,  that 
long  and  often  as  both  of  them  have  occupied  the  attention, 
and  animated  the  debates  of  Congress,  no  systems  have  yet 
been  devised  for  fulfilling,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  com 
munity,  the  duties  prescribed  by  these  grants  of  power. 
To  conciliate  the  claim  of  the  individual  citizen  to  the  en 
joyment  of  personal  liberty,  with  the  effective  obligation  of 
private  contracts,  is  the  difficult  problem  to  be  solved  by  a 
law  of  bankruptcy.  These  are  objects  of  the  deepest  in 
terest  to  society ;  affecting  all  that  is  precious  in  the 
existence  of  multitudes  of  persons,  many  of  them  in  the 
classes  essentially  dependent  and  helpless;  of  the  age  re 
quiring  nurture,  and  of  the  sex  entitled  to  protection  from 
the  free  agency  of  the  parent  and  the  husband.  The 
organization  of  the  militia  is  yet  more  indispensable  to  the 
liberties  of  the  country.  It  is  only  by  an  effective  militia 
that  we  can  at  once  enjoy  the  repose  of  peace,  and  bid 
defiance  to  foreign  aggression;  it  is  by  the  militia  that 
we  are  constituted  an  armed  nation,  standing  in  perpetual 
panoply  of  defence,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  other  nations 
of  the  earth.  To  this  end,  it  would  be  necessary,  if  possi 
ble,  so  to  shape  its  organization,  as  to  give  it  a  more  united 
and  active  energy.  There  are  laws  for  establishing  a 
uniform  militia  throughout  the  United  States,  and  for 
arming  and  equipping  its  whole  body.  But  it  is  a  body 
of  dislocated  members,  without  the  vigor  of  unity,  and 
having  little  of  uniformity  but  the  name.  To  infuse  into 


j.  Q,.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       121 

this  most  important  institution  the  power  of  which  it  is 
susceptible,  and  to  make  it  available  for  the  defence  of  the 
Union,  at  the  shortest  notice,  and  at  the  smallest  expense 
possible  of  time,  of  life,  and  of  treasure,  are  among  the 
benefits  to  be  expected  from  the  persevering  deliberations 
of  Congress. 

Among  the  unequivocal  indications  of  our  national 
prosperity,  is  the  flourishing  state  of  our  finances.  The 
revenues  of  the  present  year,  from  all  their  principal 
sources,  will  exceed  the  anticipations  of  the  last.  The 
balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  first  of  January  last,  was  a 
little  short  of  two  millions  of  dollars,  exclusive  of  two 
millions  and  a  half,  being  a  moiety  of  the  loan  of  five 
millions,  authorized  by  the  act  of  the  26th  May,  1824. 
The  receipts  into  the  treasury  from  the  1st  of  January  to 
the  39th  of  September,  exclusive  of  the  other  moiety  of 
the  same  loan,  are  estimated  at  sixteen  millions  five  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars;  and  it  is  expected  that  those  of 
the  current  year  will  exceed  five  millions  of  dollars;  form 
ing  an  aggregate  of  receipts  of  nearly  twenty-two  millions>( 
independent  of  the  loan.  The  expenditures  of  the  year 
will  not  exceed  that  sum  more  than  two  millions.  By 
those  expenditures,  nearly  eight  millions  of  the  principal, 
of  the  public  debt  have  been  discharged.  More  than  a 
million  and  a  half  has  been  devoted  to  the  debt  of  gratitude 
to  the  warriors  of  the  revolution;  a  nearly  equal  sum  to 
the  construction  of  fortifications  and  the  acquisition  of 
ordnance,  and  other  permanent  preparations  of  national 
defence;  half  a  million  to  the  gradual  increase  of  the 
navy ;  an  equal  sum  for  purchases  of  territory  from  the 
Indians,  and  payment  of  annuities  to  them ;  and  upwards 
of  a  million  for  objects  of  internal  improvement,  author 
ized  by  special  acts  of  the  last  Congress  If  we  add  to 
these,  four  millions  of  dollars  for  payment  of  interest  upon 
the  public  debt,  there  remains  a  sum  of  about  seven  mil 
lions,  which  has  defrayed  the  whole  expense  of  the  admin 
istration  of  government,  in  its  legislative,  executive,  and 
judiciary  departments,  including  the  support  of  the  military 
and  naval  establishments,  and  all  the  occasional  contingen 
cies  of  a  government  coextensive  with  the  Union. 

The  amount  of  duties  secured  on  merchandise  imported, 
11 


122  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

since  the  commencement  of  the  year,  is  about  twenty-five 
millions  and  a  half;  and  that  which  will  accrue  during  the 
current  quarter,  is  estimated  at  five  millions  and  a  half; 
from  these  thirty-one  millions,  deducting  the  drawbacks, 
estimated  at  less  than  seven  millions,  a  sum  exceeding 
twenty-four  millions  will  constitute  the  revenue  of  the 
year,  and  will  exceed  the  whole  expenditures  of  the  year. 
The  entire  amount  of  the  public  debt  remaining  due  on 
the  first  of  January  next,  will  be  short  of  eighty-one  mil 
lions  of  dollars. 

By  an  act  of  Congress  of  the  3d  of  March  last,  a  loan  of 
twelve  millions  of  dollars  was  authorized  at  four  arid  a  half 
per  cent.,  or  an  exchange  of  stock  to  that  amount,  of  four 
and  a  half  per  cent.,  for  a  stock  of  six  per  cent.,  to  create 
a  fund  for  extinguishing  an  equal  amount  of  the  public 
debt,  bearing  an  interest  of  six  per  cent.,  redeemable  in 
1826.  An  account  of  the  measures  taken  to  give  effect  to 
this  act  will  be  laid  before  you  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  As  the  object  which  it  had  in  view  has  been 
but  partially  accomplished,  it  will  be  for  the  consideration 
of  Congress,  whether  the  power  with  which  it  clothed  the 
executive  should  not  be  renewed  at  an  early  day  of  the 
present  session,  and  under  what  modifications. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  the  3d  of  March  last,  directing 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  subscribe,  in  the  name 
and  for  the  use  of  the  United  States,  for  one  thousand  five 
hundred  shares  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  Chesapeake  and 
Delaware  Canal  Company,  has  been  executed  by  the  actual 
subscription  for  the  sum  specified ;  and  such  other  meas 
ures  have  been  adopted  by  that  officer,  under  the  act,  as 
the  fulfilment  of  its  intentions  requires.  The  latest  ac 
counts  received  of  this  important  undertaking,  authorize 
the  belief  that  it  is  in  successful  progress. 

The  payments  into  the  treasury  from  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  the  public  lands,  during  the  present  year,  were 
estimated  at  one  million  of  dollars.  The  actual  receipts 
of  the  first  two  quarters  have  fallen  very  little  short  of  that 
sum :  it  is  not  expected  that  the  second  half  of  the  year 
will  be  equally  productive ;  but  the  income  of  the  year, 
from  that  source,  may  now  be  safely  estimated  at  a  million 
and  a  half.  The  act  of  Congress  of  the  18th  of  May, 


J.  a 

1824,  to  provide  for  the  extinguishment  of  the  debt  due  to 
the  United  States  by  the  purchasers  of  public  lands,  was 
limited,  in  its  operation  of  relief  to  the  purchaser,  to  the 
10th  of  April  last.  Its  effect  at  the  end  of  the  quarter 
during  which  it  expired,  was  to  reduce  that  debt  from  ten 
to  seven  millions.  By  the  operation  of  similar  prior  laws 
of  relief,  from  and  since  that  of  2d  March,  1821,  the  debt 
has  been  reduced  from  upwards  of  twenty-two  millions  to 
ten.  It  is  exceedingly  desirable  that  it  should  be  ex 
tinguished  altogether;  and  to  facilitate  that  consummation, 
I  recommend  to  Congress  the  revival,  for  one  year  more, 
of  the  act  of  18th  May,  1324,  with  such  provisional  modi 
fication  as  may  be  necessary  to  guard  the  public  interests 
against  fraudulent  practices  in  the  re-sale  of  relinquished 
land.  The  purchasers  of  public  lands  are  among  the  most 
useful  of  our  fellow-citizens ;  and,  since  the  system  of 
sales  for  cash  alone  has  been  introduced,  great  indulgence 
has  been  justly  extended  to  those  who  had  previously  pur 
chased  upon  credit.  The  debt  which  had  been  contracted 
under  the  credit  sales  had  become  unwieldy,  and  its  ex 
tinction  was  alike  advantageous  to  the  purchaser  and  the 
public.  Under  the  system  of  sales,  matured  as  it  has  been 
by  experience,  and  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  the  times, 
the  lands  will  continue,  as  they  have  become,  an  abundant 
source  of  revenue ;  and  when  the  pledge  of  them  to  the 
public  creditor  shall  have  been  redeemed,  by  the  entire 
discharge  of  the  national  debt,  the  swelling  tide  of  wealth 
with  which  they  replenish  the  common  treasury,  may  be 
made  to  re-flow  in  unfailing  streams  of  improvement,  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  condition  of  the  various  branches  of  the  public 
service  resorting  from  the  Department  of  War,  and  their  ad 
ministration  during  the  current  year,  will  be  exhibited  in 
the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  the  accompanying 
documents,  herewith  communicated.  The  organization 
and  discipline  of  the  army  are  effective  and  satisfactory. 
To  counteract  the  prevalence  of  desertion  among  the 
troops,  it  has  been  suggested  to  withhold  from  the  men  a 
small  portion  of  their  monthly  pay,  until  the  period  of 
their  discharge;  and  some  expedient  appears  to  be  ne 
cessary,  to  preserve  and  maintain  among  the  officers  so 


124  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

much  of  the  art  of  horsemanship  as  could  scarcely  fail  to 
be  found  wanting  on  the  possibly  sudden  eruption  of  a 
war,  which  should  overtake  us  unprovided  with  a  single 
corps  of  cavalry.  The  Military  Academy  at  West  Point, 
under  the  restrictions  of  a  severe  but  paternal  superin 
tendence,  recommends  itself  more  and  more  to  the  patron 
age  of  the  nation  ;  and  the  number  of  meritorious  officers 
which  it  forms  and  introduces  to  the  public  service,  fur 
nishes  the  means  of  multiplying  the  undertaking  of  public 
improvements,  to  which  their  acquirements  at  that  insti 
tution  are  peculiarly  adapted.  The  school  of  artillery 
practice,  established  at  Fortress  Monroe,  is  well  suited  to 
the  same  purpose,  and  may  need  the  aid  of  further  legis 
lative  provision  to  the  same  end.  The  reports  of  the 
various  officers  at  the  head  of  the  administrative  branches 
of  the  military  service,  connected  with  the  quartering, 
clothing,  subsistence,  health,  and  pay  of  the  army,  exhibit 
the  assiduous  vigilance  of  those  officers  in  the  perform 
ance  of  their  respective  duties,  and  the  faithful  accounta 
bility  which  has  pervaded  every  part  of  the  system. 

Our  relations  with  the  numerous  tribes  of  aboriginal 
natives  of  this  country,  scattered  over  its  extensive  sur 
face,  and  so  dependent,  even  for  their  existence,  upon  our 
power,  have  been,  during  the  present  year,  highly  inter 
esting.  An  act  of  Congress  of  the  25th  of  May,  1824, 
made  an  appropriation  to  defray  the  expenses  of  making 
treaties  of  trade  and  friendship  with  the  Indian  tribes 
beyond  the  Mississippi.  An  act  of  the  3d  of  March,  1825, 
authorized  treaties  to  be  made  with  the  Indians  for  their 
consent  to  the  making  of  a  road  from  the  frontier  of  Mis 
souri  to  that  of  New  Mexico.  And  another  act,  of  the 
same  date,  provided  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  holding 
treaties  with  the  Sioux,  Chippewas,  Menomonees,  Sacs, 
Foxes,  &,c.,  for  the  purposes  of  establishing  boundaries 
and  promoting  peace  between  said  tribes.  The  first  and 
the  last  objects  of  these  acts  have  been  accomplished;  and 
the  second  is  yet  in  a  process  of  execution.  The  treaties 
which,  since  the  last  session  of  Congress,  have  been  con 
cluded  with  the  several  tribes,  will  be  laid  before  the  Sen 
ate  for  their  consideration,  conformably  to  the  constitution. 
They  comprise  large  and  valuable  acquisitions  of  terri- 


j.   Q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       125 

tory ;  and  they  secure  an  adjustment  of  boundaries,  and 
give  pledges  of  permanent  peace  between  several  tribes 
which  had  been  long  waging  bloody  wars  against  each 
other. 

On  the  12th  of  February  last,  a  treaty  was  signed  at 
the  Indian  Springs,  between  commissioners  appointed  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States,  and  certain  chiefs  and  in 
dividuals  of  the  Creek  nation  of  Indians,  which  was  re 
ceived  at  the  seat  of  government  only  a  very  few  days 
before  the  close  of  the  last  session  of  Congress  and  of  the 
late  administration.  The  advice  and  consent  of  the  Sen 
ate  was  given  to  it  on  the  3d  of  March,  too  late  for  it  to 
receive  the  ratification  of  the  then  President  of  the  United 
States :  it  was  ratified  on  the  7th  of  March,  under  the 
unsuspecting  impression  that  it  had  been  negotiated  in 
good  faith,  and  in  the  confidence  inspired  by  the  recom 
mendation  of  the  Senate.  The  subsequent  transactions 
in  relation  to  this  treaty  will  form  the  subject  of  a  sepa 
rate  communication. 

The  appropriations  made  by  Congress  for  public  works, 
as  well  in  the  construction  of  fortifications,  as  for  pur 
poses  of  internal  improvement,  so  far  as  they  have  been 
expended,  have  been  faithfully  applied.  Their  progress 
has  been  delayed  by  the  want  of  suitable  officers  for  su 
perintending  them.  An  increase  of  both  the  corps  of 
engineers,  military  and  topographical,  was  recommended 
by  my  predecessor  at  the  last  session  of  Congress.  The 
reasons  upon  which  that  recommendation  was  founded, 
subsist  in  all  their  force,  and  have  acquired  additional 
urgency  since  that  time.  It  may  also  be  expedient  to 
organize  the  topographical  engineers  into  a  corps  similar 
to  the  present  establishment  of  the  corps  of  engineers. 
The  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  will  furnish,  from 
the  cadets  annually  graduated  there,  officers  well  qualified 
for  carrying  this  measure  into  effect. 

The  board  of  engineers  for  internal  improvement,  ap 
pointed  for  carrying  into  execution  the  act  of  Congress 
of  30th  April,  1824,  "  to  procure  the  necessary  surveys, 
plans,  and  estimates,  on  the  subject  of  roads  and  canals," 
have  been  actively  engaged  in  that  service  from  the  close 
11* 


126  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

of  the  last  session  of  Congress.  They  have  completed 
the  surveys  necessary  for  ascertaining  the  practicability 
of  a  canal  from  the  Chesapeake  Bay  to  the  Ohio  River, 
and  are  preparing  a  full  report  on  that  subject,  which, 
when  completed,  will  be  laid  before  you.  The  same  ob 
servation  is  to  be  made  with  regard  to  the  two  other  ob 
jects  of  national  importance,  upon  which  the  board  have 
been  occupied  ;  namely,  the  accomplishment  of  a  national 
road  from  this  city  to  New  Orleans,  and  the  practicability 
of  uniting  the  waters  of  Lake  Memphremagog  with  Con 
necticut  River,  and  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of 
that  river.  The  surveys  have  been  made,  and  are  nearly 
completed.  The  report  may  be  expected  at  an  early  pe 
riod  during  the  present  session  of  Congress. 

The  acts  of  Congress  of  the  last  session,  relative  to  the 
surveying,  marking,  or  laying  out  roads  in  the  territory 
of  Florida,  Arkansas,  and  Michigan,  from  Missouri  to 
Mexico,  and  for  the  continuation  of  the  Cumberland  Road, 
are,  some  of  them,  fully  executed,  and  others  in  the  pro 
cess  of  execution.  Those  for  completing  or  commencing 
fortifications,  have  been  delayed  only  so  far  as  the  corps 
of  engineers  have  been  inadequate  to  furnish  officers  for 
the  necessary  superintendence  of  the  works.  Under  the 
acts  confirming  the  statutes  of  Virginia  and  Maryland, 
incorporating  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal  Company, 
three  commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  have 
been  appointed  for  opening  books  and  receiving  subscrip 
tions,  in  concert  with  a  like  number  of  commissioners 
appointed  on  the  part  of  each  of  those  states.  A  meeting 
of  the  commissioners  has  been  postponed  to  await  the 
definite  report  of  the  board  of  engineers.  The  light 
houses  and  monuments  for  the  safety  of  our  commerce 
and  mariners  ;  the  works  for  the  security  of  Plymouth 
Beach,  and  for  the  preservation  of  the  islands  in  Boston 
Tiarbor,  have  received  the  attention  required  by  the  laws 
relating  to  those  objects,  respectively.  The  continuation 
of  the  Cumberland  Road,  the  most  important  of  them  all, 
after  surmounting  no  inconsiderable  difficulty  in  fixing 
upon  the  direction  of  the  road,  has  commenced  under  the 
most  promising  auspices,  with  the  improvements  of  recent 


j.  q.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.        127 

invention  in  the  mode  of  construction,  and  with  the  ad 
vantage  of  a  great  reduction  in  the  comparative  cost  of 
the  work. 

The  operation  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  revolutionary 
pensioners  may  deserve  the  renewed  consideration  of 
Congress.  The  act  of  the  18th  March,  1818,  while  it 
made  provision  for  many  meritorious  and  indigent  citi 
zens  who  had  served  in  the  war  of  independence,  opened 
a  door  to  numerous  abuses  and  impositions.  To  remedy 
this,  the  act  of  1st  May,  1820,  exacted  proofs  of  absolute 
indigence,  which  many  really  in  want  were  unable,  and 
all,  susceptible  of  that  delicacy  which  is  allied  to  many 
virtues,  must  be  deeply  reluctant  to  give.  The  result  has 
been,  that  some  among  the  least  deserving  have  been 
retained,  and  some  in  whom  the  requisites  both  of  worth 
and  want  were  combined,  have  been  stricken  from  the 
list.  As  the  numbers  of  these  venerable  relics  of  an  age 
gone  by  diminish — as  the  decays  of  body,  mind,  and  es 
tate,  of  those  that  survive,  must,  in  the  common  course  of 
nature,  increase  —  should  not  a  more  liberal  portion  of 
indulgence  be  dealt  out  to  them  ?  May  not  the  want,  in 
most  instances,  be  inferred  from  the  demand,  when  the 
service  can  be  duly  proved  ?  and  may  not  the  last  days  of 
human  infirmity  be  spared  the  mortification  of  purchasing 
a  pittance  of  relief,  only  by  the  exposure  of  its  own  neces 
sities  ?  I  submit  to  Congress  the  expediency  of  providing 
for  individual  cases  of  this  description,  by  special  enact 
ment,  or  of  revising  the  act  of  the  1st  of  May,  1820,  with 
a  view  to  mitigate  the  rigor  of  its  exclusions,  in  favor  of 
persons  to  whom  charity,  now  bestowed,  can  scarcely  dis 
charge  the  debt  of  justice. 

The  portion  of  the  naval  force  of  the  Union,  in  actual 
service,  has  been  chiefly  employed  on  three  stations  :  the 
Mediterranean,  the  coasts  of  South  America  bordering  on 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  the  West  Indies.  An  occasional 
cruiser  has  been  sent  to  range  along  the  African  shores 
most  polluted  by  the  traffic  of  slaves  ;  one  armed  vessel 
has  been  stationed  on  the  coast  of  our  eastern  boundary, 
to  cruise  along  the  fishing-grounds  in  Hudson's  Bay,  and 
on  the  coast  of  Labrador ;  and  the  first  service  of  a  new 
frigate  has  been  performed  in  restoring  to  his  native  soil 


128  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

and  domestic  enjoyments  the  veteran  hero  whose  youth 
ful  blood  and  treasure  had  freely  flowed  in  the  cause  of 
our  country's  independence,  and  whose  whole  life  has 
been  a  series  of  services  and  sacrifices  to  the  improve 
ment  of  his  fellow-men.  The  visit  of  General  Lafayette, 
alike  honorable  to  himself  and  to  our  country,  closed,  as 
it  had  commenced,  with  the  most  affecting  testimonials 
of  devoted  attachment  on  his  part,  and  of  unbounded 
gratitude  of  this  people  to  him  in  return.  It  will  form, 
hereafter,  a  pleasing  incident  in  the  annals  of  our  Union, 
giving  to  real  history  the  intense  interest  of  romance,  and 
signally  marking  the  unpurchasable  tribute  of  a  great  na 
tion's  social  affections  to  the  disinterested  champion  of  the 
liberties  of  human  kind. 

The  constant  maintenance  of  a  small  squadron  in  the 
Mediterranean  is  a  necessary  substitute  for  the  humili 
ating  alternative  of  paying  tribute  for  the  security  of  our 
commerce  in  that  sea,  and  for  a  precarious  peace,  at  the 
mercy  of  every  caprice  of  four  Barbary  states,  by  whom 
it  was  liable  to  be  violated.  An  additional  motive  for 
keeping  a  respectable  force  stationed  there  at  this  time, 
is  found  in  the  maritime  war  raging  between  the  Greeks 
and  the  Turks;  and  in  which  the  neutral  navigation  of 
this  Union  is  always  in  danger  of  outrage  and  depredation. 
A  few  instances  have  occurred  of  such  depredations  upon 
our  merchant  vessels  by  privateers  or  pirates  wearing  the 
Grecian  flag,  but  without  real  authority  from  the  Greek 
or  any  other  government.  The  heroic  struggles  of  the 
Greeks  themselves,  in  which  our  warmest  sympathies,  as 
freemen  and  Christians,  have  been  engaged,  have  con 
tinued  to  be  maintained  with  vicissitudes  of  success  ad 
verse  and  favorable. 

Similar  motives  have  rendered  expedient  the  keeping  a 
like  force  on  the  coasts  of  Peru  and  Chili,  on  the  Pacific. 
The  irregular  and  convulsive  character  of  the  war  upon 
the  shores  has  been  extended  to  the  conflicts  upon  the 
ocean.  An  active  warfare  has  been  kept  up  for  years, 
with  alternate  success,  though  generally  to  the  advantage 
of  the  American  patriots.  But  their  naval  forces  have  not 
always  been  under  the  control  of  their  own  governments. 
Blockades,  unjustifiable  upon  any  acknowledged  principles 


J.  ^.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       129 

of  international  law,  have  been  proclaimed  by  officers  in 
command;  and,  though  disavowed  by  the  supreme  author 
ities,  the  protection  of  our  own  commerce  against  them 
has  been  made  a  cause  of  complaint  and  erroneous  im 
putations  against  some  of  the  most  gallant  officers  of  our 
navy.  Complaints  equally  groundless  have  been  made  by 
the  commanders  of  the  Spanish  royal  forces  in  those  seas; 
but  the  most  effective  protection  to  our  commerce  has  been 
the  flag  and  the  firmness  of  our  own  commanding  officers. 
The  cessation  of  the  war,  by  the  complete  triumph  of  the 
patriot  cause,  has  removed,  it  is  hoped,  all  cause  of  dissen 
sion  with  one  party,  and  all  vestige  of  force  of  the  other. 
But  an  unsettled  coast  of  many  degrees  of  latitude,  form 
ing  a  part  of  our  own  territory,  and  a  flourishing  com 
merce  and  fishery,  extending  to  the  islands  of  the  Pacific 
and  to  China,  still  require  that  the  protecting  power  of  the 
Union  should  be  displayed  under  its  flag,  as  well  upon  the 
ocean  as  upon  the  land. 

The  objects  of  the  West  Indies  squadron  have  been,  to 
carry  into  execution  the  laws  for  the  suppression  of  the 
African  slave  trade ;  for  the  protection  of  our  commerce 
against  vessels  of  piratical  character,  though  bearing  com 
missions  from  either  of  the  belligerent  parties;  for  its  pro 
tection  against  open  and  unequivocal  pirates.  These  ob 
jects,  during  the  present  year,  have  been  accomplished 
more  effectually  than  at  any  former  period.  The  African 
slave  trade  has  long  been  excluded  from  the  use  of  our 
flag ;  and  if  some  few  citizens  of  our  country  have  con 
tinued  to  set  the  laws  of  the  Union,  as  well  as  those  of 
nature  and  humanity,  at  defiance,  by  persevering  in  that 
abominable  traffic,  it  has  been  only  by  sheltering  them 
selves  under  the  banners  of  other  nations,  less  earnest  for 
the  total  extinction  of  the  trade  than  ours.  The  irregular 
privateers  have,  within  the  last  year,  been  in  a  great  meas 
ure  banished  from  those  seas ;  and  the  pirates,  for  months 
past,  appear  to  have  been  almost  entirely  swept  away  from 
the  borders  and  the  shores  of  the  two  Spanish  islands  in 
those  regions.  The  active,  persevering,  and  unremitted 
energy  of  Captain  Warrington,  and  of  the  officers  and  men 
under  his  command,  on  that  trying  and  perilous  service, 
have  been  crowned  with  signal  success,  and  are  entitled  to 


130  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN 

the  approbation  of  their  country.  But  experience  has 
shown  that  not  even  a  temporary  suspension  or  relaxation 
from  assiduity  can  be  indulged  on  that  station  without 
reproducing  piracy  and  murder  in  all  their  horrors;  nor  is 
it  probable  that,  for  years  to  come,  our  immensely  valuable 
commerce  in  those  seas  can  navigate  in  security,  without 
the  steady  continuance  of  an  armed  force  devoted  to  its 
protection. 

It  were  indeed  a  vain  and  dangerous  illusion  to  believe 
that  in  the  present  or  probable  condition  of  human  society, 
a  commerce  so  extensive  and  so  rich  as  ours  could  exist 
and  be  pursued  in  safety,  without  the  continual  support  of 
a  military  marine  —  the  only  arm  by  which  the  power  of 
this  confederacy  can  be  estimated  or  felt  by  foreign  nations, 
and  the  only  standing  military  force  which  can  never  be 
dangerous  to  our  own  liberties  at  home.  A  permanent 
naval  peace  establishment,  therefore,  adapted  to  our  pres 
ent  condition,  and  adaptable  to  that  gigantic  growth  with 
which  the  nation  is  advancing  in  its  career,  is  among  the 
subjects  which  have  already  occupied  the  foresight  of  the 
last  Congress,  and  which  will  deserve  your  serious  delib 
erations.  Our  navy,  commenced  at  an  early  period  of  our 
present  political  organization,  upon  a  scale  commensurate 
with  the  incipient  energies,  the  scanty  resources,  and  the 
comparative  indigence  of  our  infancy,  was  even  then 
found  adequate  to  cope  with  all  the  powers  of  Barbary, 
save  the  first,  and  with  one  of  the  principal  maritime  pow 
ers  of  Europe. 

At  a  period  of  further  advancement,  but  with  little  ac 
cession  of  strength,  it  not  only  sustained  with  honor  the 
most  unequal  of  conflicts,  but  covered  itself  and  our  coun 
try  with  unfading  glory.  But  it  is  only  since  the  close  of 
the  late  war  that,  by  the  numbers  and  force  of  the  ships 
of  which  it  was  composed,  it  could  deserve  the  name  of 
a  navy.  Yet  it  retains  nearly  the  same  organization  as 
when  it  consisted  of  only  five  frigates.  The  rules  and 
regulations  by  which  it  is  governed  earnestly  call  for  re 
vision  ;  and  the  want  of  a  naval  school  of  instruction, 
corresponding  with  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point, 
for  the  formation  of  scientific  and  accomplished  officers, 
is  felt  with  daily  increasing  aggravation. 


j.  Q,.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       131 

The  act  of  Congress  of  26th  of  May,  1824,  authorizing 
an  examination  and  survey  of  the  harbor  of  Charleston,  in 
South  Carolina,  of  St.  Mary's,  in  Georgia,  and  of  the  coast 
of  Florida,  and  for  other  purposes,  has  been  executed  so 
far  as  the  appropriation  would  admit.  Those  of  the  3d 
of  March  last,  authorizing  the  establishment  of  a  navy- 
yard  and  depot  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  authorizing  the  building  often  sloops  of  war, 
and  for  other  purposes,  are  in  the  course  of  execution ;  for 
the  particulars  of  which  and  other  objects  connected  with 
this  department,  I  refer  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  herewith  communicated. 

A  report  from  the  Postmaster-general  is  also  submitted, 
exhibiting  the  present  flourishing  condition  of  that  de 
partment.  For  the  first  time  for  many  years,  the  receipts 
for  the  year  ending  on  the  1st  of  July  last,  exceeded  the 
expenditures  during  the  same  period,  to  the  amount  of 
more  than  forty-five  thousand  dollars.  Other  facts,  equally 
creditable  to  the  administration  of  this  department,  are, 
that  in  two  years  from  the  1st  of  July,  1823,  an  improve 
ment  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand 
dollars  in  its  pecuniary  affairs,  has  been  realized;  that,  in 
the  same  interval,  the  increase  of  the  transportation  of  the 
mail  has  exceeded  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  miles 
annually  ;  and  that  one  thousand  and  forty  new  post-offices 
have  been  established.  It  hence  appears,  that  under  ju 
dicious  management,  the  income  from  this  establishment 
may  be  relied  on  as  fully  adequate  to  defray  its  expenses  ; 
and  that,  by  the  discontinuance  of  post  roads,  altogether 
unproductive,  others  of  more  useful  character  may  be 
opened,  till  the  circulation  of  the  mail  shall  keep  pace 
with  the  spread  of  our  population,  and  the  comforts  of 
friendly  correspondence,  the  exchanges  of  internal  traffic, 
and  the  lights  of  the  periodical  press,  shall  be  distributed 
to  the  remotest  corners  of  the  Union,  at  a  charge  scarcely 
perceptible  to  any  individual,  and  without  the  cost  of  a 
dollar  to  the  public  treasury. 

Upon  this  first  occasion  of  addressing  the  legislature  of 
the  Union,  with  which  I  have  been  honored,  in  presenting 
to  their  view  the  execution,  so  far  as  it  has  been  effected, 
of  the  measures  sanctioned  by  them,  for  promoting  the 


132  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

internal  improvement  of  our  country,  I  cannot  close  the 
communication  without  recommending  to  their  calm  and 
persevering  consideration  the  general  principle  in  a  more 
enlarged  extent.  The  great  object  of  the  institution  of 
civil  government  is  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of 
those  who  are  parties  to  the  social  compact.  And  no  gov 
ernment,  in  whatever  form  constituted,  can  accomplish  the 
lawful  ends  of  its  institution,  but  in  proportion  as  it  im 
proves  the  condition  of  those  over  whom  it  is  established. 
Roads  and  canals,  by  multiplying  and  facilitating  the  com 
munications  and  intercourse  between  distant  regions  and 
multitudes  of  men,  are  among  the  most  important  means 
of  improvement.  But  moral,  political  and  intellectual 
improvement,  are  duties  assigned  by  the  Author  of  our  ex 
istence,  to  social,  no  less  than  to  individual  man.  For  the 
fulfilment  of  those  duties,  governments  are  invested  with 
power ;  and,  to  the  attainment  of  the  end,  the  progressive 
improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  governed,  the  exercise 
of  delegated  powers,  is  a  duty  as  sacred  and  indispensable 
as  the  usurpation  of  powers  not  granted  is  criminal  and 
odious.  Among  the  first,  perhaps  the  very  first  instrument 
for  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  men,  is  knowl 
edge  ;  and  to  the  acquisition  of  much  of  the  knowledge 
adapted  to  the  wants,  the  comforts,  and  enjoyments  of 
human  life,  public  institutions  and  seminaries  of  learning 
are  essential.  So  convinced  of  this  was  the  first  of  my 
predecessors  in  this  office,  now  first  in  the  memory,  as, 
living,  he  was  the  first  in  the  hearts  of  our  country,  that 
once  and  again,  in  his  addresses  to  the  Congresses  with 
whom  he  cooperated  in  the  public  service,  he  earnestly 
recommended  the  establishment  of  seminaries  of  learning, 
to  prepare  for  all  the  emergencies  of  peace  and  war  —  a 
national  university,  and  a  military  academy.  With  respect 
to  the  latter,  had  he  lived  to  the  present  day,  in  turning  his 
eyes  to  the  institution  at  West  Point,  he  would  have  en 
joyed  the  gratification  of  his  most  earnest  wishes.  But,  in 
surveying  the  city  which  has  been  honored  with  his  name, 
he  would  have  seen  the  spot  of  earth  which  he  had  des 
tined  and  bequeathed  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  his  coun 
try  as  the  site  for  a  university,  still  bare  and  barren. 
In  assuming  her  station  among  the  civilized  nations  of 


j.  q,.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       133 

the  earth,  it  would  seem  that  our  country  had  contracted 
the  engagement  to  contribute  her  share  of  mind,  of  labor, 
and  of  expense,  to  the  improvement  of  those  parts  of 
knowledge  which  lie  beyond  the  reach  of  individual  ac 
quisition  ;  and  particularly  to  geographical  and  astronom 
ical  science.  Looking  back  to  the  history  only  of  half 
the  century  since  the  declaration  of  our  independence,  and 
observing  the  generous  emulation  with  which  the  govern 
ments  of  France,  Great  Britain,  and  Russia,  have  devoted 
the  genius,  the  intelligence,  the  treasures  of  their  respec 
tive  nations,  to  the  common  improvement  of  the  species  in 
these  branches  of  science,  is  it  not  incumbent  upon  us  to 
inquire  whether  we  are  not  bound  by  obligations  of  a  high 
and  honorable  character  to  contribute  our  portion  of  en 
ergy  and  exertion  to  the  common  stock  t  The  voyages 
of  discovery  prosecuted  in  the  course  of  that  time  at  the 
expense  of  those  nations,  have  not  only  redounded  to  their 
glory,  but  to  the  improvement  of  human  knowledge.  We 
have  been  partakers  of  that  improvement,  and  owe  for  it  a 
sacred  debt,  not  only  of  gratitude,  but  of  equal  or  propor 
tional  exertion  in  the  same  common  cause.  Of  the  cost 
of  these  undertakings,  if  the  mere  expenditures  of  outfit, 
equipment,  and  completion  of  the  expeditions,  were  to  be 
considered  the  only  charges,  it  would  be  unworthy  of  a 
great  and  generous  nation  to  take  a  second  thought.  One 
hundred  expeditions  of  circumnavigation,  like  those  of 
Cook  and  La  Perouse,  would  not  burden  the  exchequer  of 
the  nation  fitting  them  out,  so  much  as  the  ways  and 
means  of  defraying  a  single  campaign  in  war.  But  if  we 
take  into  the  account  the  lives  of  those  benefactors  of 
mankind,  of  which  their  services  in  the  cause  of  their 
species  were  the  purchase,  how  shall  the  cost  of  those 
heroic  enterprises  be  estimated  ?  And  what  compensation 
can  be  made  to  them,  or  to  their  countries  for  them  ?  Is 
it  not  by  bearing  them  in  affectionate  remembrance  ?  Is 
it  not  still  more  by  imitating  their  example  1  by  enabling 
countrymen  of  our  own  to  pursue  the  same  career,  and 
to  hazard  their  lives  in  the  same  cause  ? 

On  inviting  the   attention  of  Congress  to  the  subject  of 
internal   improvements,  upon   a  view  thus  enlarged,  it  is 
not  my  design  to  recommend  the  equipment  of  an  expe- 
12 


134  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN 

dition  for  circumnavigating  the  globe  for  purposes  of 
scientific  research  and  inquiry.  We  have  objects  of  use 
ful  investigation  nearer  home,  and  to  which  our  cares  may 
be  more  beneficially  applied.  The  interior  of  our  own 
territories  has  yet  been  very  imperfectly  explored.  Our 
coasts,  along  many  degrees  of  latitude  upon  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  though  much  frequented  by  our  spirited 
commercial  navigators,  have  been  barely  visited  by  our 
public  ships.  The  river  of  the  west,  first  fully  discovered 
and  navigated  by  a  countryman  of  our  own,  still  bears  the 
name  of  the  ship  in  which  he  ascended  its  waters,  and 
claims  the  protection  of  our  armed  national  flag  at  its 
mouth.  With  the  establishment  of  a  military  post  there, 
or  at  some  other  point  of  that  coast,  recommended  by  my 
predecessor,  and  already  matured  in  the  deliberations  of 
the  last  Congress,  I  would  suggest  the  expediency  of  con 
necting  the  equipment  of  a  public  ship  for  the  exploration 
of  the  whole  north-west  coast  of  this  continent. 

The  establishment  of  a  uniform  standard  of  weights  and 
measures  was  one  of  the  specific  objects  contemplated  in 
the  formation  of  our  constitution ;  and  to  fix  that  standard 
was  one  of  the  powers  delegated  by  express  terms,  in 
that  instrument,  to  Congress.  The  governments  of  Great 
Britain  and  France  have  scarcely  ceased  to  be  occupied 
with  inquiries  and  speculations  on  the  same  subject,  since 
the  existence  of  our  constitution ;  and  with  them  it  has  ex 
panded  into  profound,  laborious,  and  expensive  researches 
into  the  figure  of  the  earth,  and  the  comparative  length  of 
the  pendulum  vibrating  seconds  in  various  latitudes,  from 
the  equator  to  the  pole.  These  researches  have  resulted 
in  the  composition  and  publication  of  several  works  highly 
interesting  to  the  cause  of  science.  The  experiments  are 
yet  in  the  process  of  performance.  Some  of  them  have 
recently  been  made  on  our  own  shores,  within  the  walls  of 
one  of  our  own  colleges,  and  partly  by  one  of  our  own  fellow- 
citizens.  It  would  be  honorable  to  our  country  if  the 
sequel  of  the  same  experiments  should  be  countenanced  by 
the  patronage  of  our  government,  as  they  have  hitherto 
been  by  those  of  France  and  Great  Britain. 

Connected  with  the  establishment  of  a  university,  or 
separate  from  it,  might  be  undertaken  the  erection  of  an 


j.  Q,.  ADAMS'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       135 

astronomical  observatory,  with  provision  for  the  support 
of  an  astronomer,  to  be  in  constant  attendance  of  observa 
tion  upon  the  phenomena  of  the  heavens ;  and  for  the 
periodical  publication  of  his  observations.  It  is  with  no 
feeling  of  pride,  as  an  American,  that  the  remark  may  be 
made,  that,  on  the  comparatively  small  territorial  surface 
of  Europe,  there  are  existing  upwards  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty  of  these  lighthouses  of  the  skies ;  while  throughout 
the  whole  American  hemisphere  there  is  not  one.  If  we 
reflect  a  moment  upon  the  discoveries  which,  in  the  last 
four  centuries,  have  been  made  in  the  physical  constitution 
of  the  universe,  by  the  means  of  these  buildings,  and  of 
observers  stationed  in  them,  shall  we  doubt  of  their  useful 
ness  to  every  nation  t  And  while  scarcely  a  year  passes 
over  our  heads  without  bringing  some  new  astronomical 
discovery  to  light,  which  we  must  fain  receive  at  second 
hand  from  Europe,  are  we  not  cutting  ourselves  off  from 
the  means  of  returning  light  for  light,  while  we  have 
neither  observatory  nor  observer  upon  our  half  of  the 
globe,  and  the  earth  revolves  in  perpetual  darkness  to 
our  unsearching  eyes? 

When,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1791,  the  first  President 
of  the  United  States  announced  to  Congress  the  result  of 
the  first  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  Union,  he 
informed  them  that  the  returns  gave  the  pleasing  assurance 
that  the  population  of  the  United  States  bordered  on  four 
millions  of  persons.  At  the  distance  of  thirty  years  from 
that  time,  the  last  enumeration,  five  years  since  completed, 
presented  a  population  bordering  on  ten  millions.  Perhaps 
of  all  the  evidences  of  a  prosperous  and  happy  condition  of 
human  society,  the  rapidity  of  the  increase  of  population  is 
the  most  unequivocal.  But  the  demonstration  of  our  pros 
perity  rests  not  alone  upon  this  indication.  Our  commerce, 
our  wealth,  and  the  extent  of  our  territories,  have  increased 
in  corresponding  proportions;  and  the  number  of  inde 
pendent  communities,  associated  in  our  federal  Union,  has, 
since  that  time,  nearly  doubled.  The  legislative  represen 
tation  of  the  states  and  people,  in  the  two  houses  of  Con 
gress,  has  grown  with  the  growth  of  their  constituent 
bodies.  The  House,  which  then  consisted  of  sixty-five 
members,  now  numbers  upwards  of  two  hundred.  The 


136  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

Senate,  which  consisted  of  twenty-six  members,  has  now 
forty-eight.  But  the  executive,  and  still  more  the  judi 
ciary  departments,  are  yet  in  a  great  measure  confined  to 
their  primitive  organization,  and  are  now  not  adequate  to 
the  urgent  wants  of  a  still  growing  community. 

The  naval  armaments,  which  at  an  early  period  forced 
themselves  upon  the  necessities  of  the  Union,  soon  led  to 
the  establishment  of  a  department  of  the  navy.  But  the 
departments  of  foreign  affairs  and  of  the  interior,  which, 
early  after  the  formation  of  the  government,  had  been 
united  in  one,  continue  so  united  to  this  time,  to  the  un 
questionable  detriment  of  the  public  service.  The  multi 
plication  of  our  relations  with  the  nations  and  governments 
of  the  old  world,  has  kept  pace  with  that  of  our  population 
and  commerce,  while,  within  the  last  ten  years,  a  new 
family  of  nations,  in  our  own  hemisphere,  has  arisen 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  with  whom  our  inter 
course,  commercial  and  political,  would,  of  itself,  furnish 
occupation  to  an  active  and  industrious  department.  The 
constitution  of  the  judiciary,  experimental  and  imperfect 
as  it  was,  even  in  the  infancy  of  our  existing  government, 
is  yet  more  inadequate  to  the  administration  of  national 
justice  at  our  present  maturity.  Nine  years  have  elapsed 
since  a  predecessor  in  this  office,  now  not  the  last,  the 
citizen  who,  perhaps,  of  all  others  throughout  the  Union, 
contributed  most  to  the  formation  and  establishment  of 
our  constitution,  in  his  valedictory  address  to  Congress, 
immediately  preceding  his  retirement  from  public  life, 
urgently  recommended  the  revision  of  the  judiciary,  and 
the  establishment  of  an  additional  executive  department. 
The  exigencies  of  the  public  service,  and  its  unavoidable 
deficiencies,  as  now  in  exercise,  have  added  yearly  cumu- 
lative  weight  to  the  considerations  presented  by  him  as 
persuasive  to  the  measure;  and  in  recommending  it  to 
your  deliberations,  I  am  happy  to  have  the  influence  of  his 
high  authority  in  aid  of  the  undoubting  convictions  of  my 
own  experience. 

The  laws  relating  to  the  administration  of  the  Patent 
Office  are  deserving  of  much  consideration,  and  perhaps 
susceptible  of  some  improvement.  The  grant  of  power  to 
regulate  the  action  of  Congress  on  this  subject,  has  speci- 


j.  q 

fied  both  the  end  to  be  obtained  and  the  means  by  which  it 
is  to  be  effected,  "  to  promote  the  progress  of  science  and 
the  useful  arts,  by  securing,  for  limited  times,  to  authors  and 
inventors  the  exclusive  right  to  their  respective  writings 
and  discoveries."  If  an  honest  pride  might  be  indulged 
in  the  reflection,  that  on  the  records  of  that  office  are 
already  found  inventions,  the  usefulness  of  which  has 
scarcely  been  transcended  in  the  annals  of  human  ingenu 
ity,  would  not  its  exultation  be  allayed  by  the  inquiry, 
whether  the  laws  have  effectively  insured  to  the  inventors 
the  reward  destined  to  them  by  the  constitution  —  even  a 
limited  term  of  exclusive  right  to  their  discoveries  ? 

On  the  24th  of  December,  1799,  it  was  resolved  by 
Congress,  that  a  marble  monument  should  be  erected  by 
the  United  States,  in  the  capitol,  at  the  city  of  Washing 
ton  ;  that  the  family  of  General  Washington  should  be 
requested  to  permit  his  body  to  be  deposited  under  it ;  and 
that  the  monument  be  so  designed  as  to  commemorate  the 
great  events  of  his  military  and  political  life.  In  remind 
ing  Congress  of  this  resolution,  and  that  the  monument 
contemplated  by  it  remains  yet  without  execution,  I  shall 
indulge  only  the  remarks,  that  the  works  at  the  capitol  are 
approaching  to  completion  ;  that  the  consent  of  the  family, 
desired  by  the  resolution,  was  requested  and  obtained ;  that 
a  monument  has  been  recently  erected  in  this  city,  over  the 
remains  of  another  distinguished  patriot  of  the  revolution ; 
and  that  a  spot  has  been  reserved  within  the  walls  where 
you  are  deliberating  for  the  benefit  of  this  and  future  ages, 
in  which  the  mortal  remains  may  be  deposited  of  him 
whose  spirit  hovers  over  you,  and  listens  with  delight  to 
every  act  of  the  representatives  of  his  nation  which  can 
tend  to  exalt  and  adorn  his  and  their  country. 

The  constitution  under  which  you  are  assembled,  is  a 
charter  of  limited  powers.  After  full  and  solemn  deliber 
ation  upon  all  or  any  of  the  objects  which,  urged  by  an 
irresistible  sense  of  my  own  duty,  I  have  recommended  to 
your  attention,  should  you  come  to  the  conclusion,  that, 
however  desirable  in  themselves,  the  enactment  of  laws  for 
effecting  them  would  transcend  the  powers  committed  to 
you  by  that  venerable  instrument  which  we  are  all  bound 
to  support,  —  let  no  consideration  induce  you  to  assume  the 
12* 


138  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

exercise  of  powers  not  granted  to  you  by  the  people.  But 
if  the  power  to  exercise  exclusive  legislation,  in  all  cases 
whatsoever,  over  the  District  of  Columbia ;  if  the  power 
to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises,  to 
pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and 
general  welfare  of  the  United  States ;  if  the  power  to  reg 
ulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the 
several  states,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes  ;  to  fix  the  stand 
ard  of  weights  and  measures ;  to  establish  post-offices  and 
post-roads;  to  declare  war;  to  raise  and  support  armies; 
to  provide  and  maintain  a  navy ;  to  dispose  of  and  make 
all  needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory 
or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United  States;  and 
to  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for 
carrying  these  powers  into  execution;  if  these  powers, 
and  others  enumerated  in  the  constitution,  may  be  ef 
fectually  brought  into  action  by  laws  promoting  the  im 
provement  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufactures, 
the  cultivation  and  encouragement  of  the  mechanic  and 
of  the  elegant  arts,  the  advancement  of  literature,  and  the 
progress  of  the  sciences,  ornamental  and  profound ;  to 
refrain  from  exercising  them  for  the  benefit  of  the  people 
themselves,  would  be  to  hide  in  the  earth  the  talent  com 
mitted  to  our  charge  —  would  be  treachery  to  the  most 
sacred  of  trusts. 

The  spirit  of  improvement  is  abroad  upon  the  earth. 
It  stimulates  the  hearts,  and  sharpens  the  faculties,  not  of 
our  fellow-citizens  alone,  but  of  the  nations  of  Europe, 
and  of  their  rulers.  While  dwelling  with  pleasing  satis 
faction  upon  the  superior  excellence  of  our  political  insti 
tutions,  let  us  not  be  unmindful  that  liberty  is  power; 
that  the  nation  blessed  with  the  largest  portion  of  liberty, 
must,  in  proportion  to  its  numbers,  be  the  most  powerful 
nation  upon  earth  ;  and  that  the  tenure  of  power  by  man 
is,  in  the  moral  purposes  of  his  Creator,  upon  condition 
that  it  shall  be  exercised  to  ends  of  beneficence,  to 
improve  the  condition  of  himself  and  his  fellow-men. 
While  foreign  nations,  less  blessed  with  that  freedom 
which  is  power  than  ourselves,  are  advancing  with  gigan 
tic  strides  in  the  career  of  public  improvement,  were  we 
to  slumber  in  indolence,  or  fold  up  our  arms  and  proclaim 


139 

to  the  world  that  we  are  palsied  by  the  will  of  our  con 
stituents,  —  would  it  not  be  to  cast  away  the  bounties  of 
Providence,  and  doom  ourselves  to  perpetual  inferiority  ? 
In  the  course  of  the  year  now  drawing  to  its  close,  we 
have  beheld,  under  the  auspices  and  expense  of  one  state 
in  our  Union,  a  new  university  unfolding  its  portals  to 
the  sons  of  science,  and  holding  up  the  torch  of  human 
improvement  to  the  eyes  that  seek  the  light.  We  have 
seen,  under  the  persevering  and  enlightened  enterprise  of 
another  state,  the  waters  of  our  western  lakes  mingle  with 
those  of  the  ocean.  If  undertakings  like  these  have  been 
accomplished  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  by  the  author 
ity  of  single  members  of  our  confederation,  can  we,  the 
representative  authorities  of  the  whole  Union,  fall  behind 
our  fellow-servants  in  the  exercise  of  the  trust  committed 
to  us  for  the  benefit  of  our  common  sovereign,  by  the  ac 
complishment  of  works  important  to  the  whole,  and  to 
which  neither  the  authority  nor  the  resources  of  any  one 
state  can  be  adequate  1 

Finally,  fellow-citizens,  I  shall  await,  with  cheering 
hope  and  faithful  cooperation,  the  result  of  your  delibera 
tions,  assured  that,  without  encroaching  upon  the  powers 
reserved  to  the  authorities  of  the  respective  states,  or  to 
the  people,  you  will,  with  a  due  sense  of  your  obligations 
to  your  country,  and  of  the  high  responsibilities  weighing 
upon  yourselves,  give  efficacy  to  the  means  committed  to 
you  for  the  common  good.  And  may  He  who  searches 
the  hearts  of  the  children  of  men,  prosper  your  exertions 
to  secure  the  blessings  of  peace  and  promote  the  highest 
welfare  of  our  country. 


JACKSON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

MARCH  4,  1829. 

Fellow-Citizens  : 

ABOUT  to  undertake  the  arduous  duties  that  I  have  been 
appointed  to  perform,  by  the  choice  of  a  free  people,  I 
avail  myself  of  this  customary  and  solemn  occasion  to 


140  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

express  the  gratitude  which  their  confidence  inspires,  and 
to  acknowledge  the  accountability  which  my  situation  en 
joins.  While  the  magnitude  of  their  interests  convinces 
me  that  no  thanks  can  be  adequate  to  the  honor  they  have 
conferred,  it  admonishes  me  that  the  best  return  I  can 
make,  is  the  zealous  dedication  of  my  humble  abilities  to 
their  service  and  their  good. 

As  the  instrument  of  the  federal  constitution,  it  will 
devolve  upon  me,  for  a  stated  period,  to  execute  the  Jaws 
of  the  United  States ;  to  superintend  their  foreign  and 
confederate  relations ;  to  manage  their  revenue  ;  to  com 
mand  their  forces ;  and,  by  communications  to  the  legis 
lature,  to  watch  over  and  to  promote  their  interests  gen 
erally.  And  the  principles  of  action  by  which  I  shall 
endeavor  to  accomplish  this  circle  of  duties,  it  is  now 
proper  for  me  briefly  to  explain. 

In  administering  the  laws  of  Congress,  I  shall  keep 
steadily  in  view  the  limitations  as  well  as  the  extent  of 
the  executive  power,  trusting  thereby  to  discharge  the 
functions  of  my  office,  without  transcending  its  authority. 
With  foreign  nations  it  will  be  my  study  to  preserve 
peace,  and  to  cultivate  friendship  on  fair  and  honorable 
terms ;  and  in  the  adjustment  of  any  differences  that  may 
exist  or  arise,  to  exhibit  the  forbearance  becoming  a  power 
ful  nation,  rather  than  the  sensibility  belonging  to  a  gal 
lant  people. 

In  such  measures  as  I  may  be  called  on  to  pursue,  in 
regard  to  the  rights  of  the  separate  states,  I  hope  to  be 
animated  by  a  proper  respect  for  those  sovereign  mem 
bers  of  our  Union  ;  taking  care  not  to  confound  the  pow 
ers  they  have  reserved  to  themselves  with  those  they 
have  granted  to  the  confederacy. 

The  management  of  the  public  revenue  —  that  search 
ing  operation  of  all  governments  —  is  among  the  most 
delicate  and  important  trusts  in  ours ;  and  it  will,  of 
course,  demand  no  inconsiderable  share  of  my  official 
solicitude.  Under  every  aspect  in  which  it  can  be  con 
sidered,  it  would  appear  that  advantage  must  result  from 
the  observance  of  a  strict  and  faithful  economy.  This  I 
shall  aim  at  the  more  anxiously,  both  because  it  will 
facilitate  the  extinguishment  of  the  national  debt,  the 


141 

unnecessary  duration  of  which  is  incompatible  with  real 
independence,  and  because  it  will  counteract  that  ten 
dency  to  public  and  private  profligacy  which  a  profuse 
expenditure  of  money  by  the  government  is  but  too  apt 
to  engender.  Powerful  auxiliaries  to  the  attainment  of 
this  desirable  end  are  to  be  found  in  the  regulations  pro 
vided  by  the  wisdom  of  Congress  for  the  specific  appro 
priation  of  public  money,  and  the  prompt  accountability 
of  public  officers.  With  regard  to  a  proper  selection  of 
the  subjects  of  imposts,  with  a  view  to  revenue,  it  would 
seem  to  me  that  the  spirit  of  equity,  caution,  and  com 
promise,  in  which  the  constitution  was  formed,  requires 
that  the  great  interests  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  man 
ufactures,  should  be  equally  favored,  and  that  perhaps  the 
only  exception  to  this  rule  should  consist  in  the  peculiar 
encouragement  of  any  products  of  either  of  them  that  may 
be  found  essential  to  our  national  independence. 

Internal  improvement  and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge, 
so  far  as  they  can  be  promoted  by  the  constitutional  acts 
of  the  federal  government,  are  of  high  importance. 

Considering  standing  armies  as  dangerous  to  free  gov 
ernments  in  time  of  peace,  I  shall  not  seek  to  enlarge 
our  present  establishment,  nor  to  disregard  that  salutary 
lesson  of  political  experience  which  teaches  that  the  mil 
itary  should  be  held  subordinate  to  the  civil  power.  The 
gradual  increase  of  our  navy,  whose  flag  has  displayed, 
in  distant  climes,  our  skill  in  navigation,  and  our  fame  in 
arms;  the  preservation  of  our  forts,  arsenals,  and  dock 
yards  ;  and  the  introduction  of  progressive  improvements 
in  the  discipline  and  science  of  both  branches  of  our  mil 
itary  service,  are  so  plainly  prescribed  by  prudence  that  I 
should  be  excused  for  omitting  their  mention,  sooner  than 
enlarging  on  their  importance.  But  the  bulwark  of  our 
defence  is  the  national  militia,  which,  in  the  present  state 
of  our  intelligence  and  population,  must  render  us  invin 
cible.  As  long  as  our  government  is  administered  for  the 
good  of  the  people,  and  is  regulated  by  their  will ;  as  long 
as  it  secures  to  us  the  right  of  person  and  property,  liberty 
of  conscience  and  of  the  press,  it  will  be  worth  defend 
ing  ;  and  so  long  as  it  is  worth  defending,  a  patriotic  mili 
tia  will  cover  it  with  an  impenetrable  aegis.  Partial  inju 
ries  and  occasional  mortifications  we  may  be  subjected 


142  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

to;  but  a  million  of  armed  freemen,  possessed  of  the 
means  of  war,  can  never  be  conquered  by  a  foreign  foe. 
To  any  just  system,  therefore,  calculated  to  strengthen 
this  natural  safeguard  of  the  country,  I  shall  cheerfully 
lend  all  the  aid  in  my  power. 

It  will  be  my  sincere  and  constant  desire  to  observe 
towards  the  Indian  tribes  within  our  limits  a  just  and 
liberal  policy ;  and  to  give  that  humane  and  considerate 
attention  to  their  rights  and  their  wants,  which  is  con 
sistent  with  the  habits  of  our  government  and  the  feelings 
of  our  people. 

The  recent  demonstration  of  public  sentiment  inscribes 
on  the  list  of  executive  duties,  in  characters  too  legible  to 
be  overlooked,  the  task  of  reform  ;  which  will  require,  par 
ticularly,  the  correction  of  those  abuses  that  have  brought 
the  patronage  of  the  federal  government  into  conflict  with 
the  freedom  of  elections,  and  the  counteraction  of  those 
causes  which  have  disturbed  the  rightful  course  of  ap 
pointment,  and  have  placed  or  continued  power  in  un 
faithful  or  incompetent  hands. 

In  the  performance  of  a  task  thus  generally  delineated/ 
I  shall  endeavor  to  select  men  whose  diligence  and  talents 
will  insure,  in  their  respective  stations,  able  and  faithful 
cooperation  —  depending,  for  the  advancement  of  the  pub 
lic  service,  more  on  the  integrity  and  zeal  of  the  public 
officers,  than  on  their  numbers. 

A  diffidence,  perhaps  too  just,  in  my  own  qualifica 
tions,  will  teach  me  to  look  with  reverence  to  the  exam 
ples  of  public  virtue  left  by  my  illustrious  predecessors, 
and  with  veneration  to  the  lights  that  flow  from  the  mind 
that  founded  and  the  mind  that  reformed  our  system. 
The  same  diffidence  induces  me  to  hope  for  instruction 
and  aid  from  the  coordinate  branches  of  the  government, 
and  for  the  indulgence  and  support  of  my  fellow-citizens 
generally.  And  a  firm  reliance  on  the  goodness  of  that 
Power  whose  providence  mercifully  protected  our  national 
infancy,  and  has  since  upheld  our  liberties  in  various 
vicissitudes,  encourages  me  to  offer  up  my  ardent  suppli 
cations  that  He  will  continue  to  make  our  beloved  country 
the  object  of  His  divine  care  and  gracious  benediction. 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN.  143 

JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

DECEMBER  8,  1829. 

Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

Ir  affords  me  pleasure  to  tender  my  friendly  greetings 
to  you  on  the  occasion  of  your  assembling  at  the  seat  of 
government,  to  enter  upon  the  important  duties  to  which 
you  have  been  called  by  the  voice  of  our  countrymen. 
The  task  devolves  on  me,  under  a  provision  of  the  con 
stitution,  to  present  to  you,  as  the  federal  legislature  of 
twenty-four  sovereign  states,  and  twelve  millions  of  hap 
py  people,  a  view  of  our  affairs,  and  to  propose  such 
measures  as,  in  the  discharge  of  my  official  functions, 
have  suggested  themselves  as  necessary  to  promote  the 
objects  of  our  Union. 

In  communicating  with  you  Ibr  the  first  time,  it  is  to 
me  a  source  of  unfeigned  satisfaction,  calling  for  mutual 
gratulation  and  devout  thanks  to  a  benign  Providence,  that 
we  are  at  peace  with  all  mankind  ;  and  that  our  country 
exhibits  the  most  cheering  evidence  of  general  welfare  and 
progressive  improvement.  Turning  our  eyes  to  other 
nations,  our  great  desire  is  to  see  our  brethren  of  the 
human  race  secured  by  the  blessings  enjoyed  by  ourselves, 
and  advancing  in  knowledge,  in  freedom,  and  in  social 
happiness. 

Our  foreign  relations,  although  in  their  general  charac 
ter  pacific  and  friendly,  present  objects  of  difference  be 
tween  us  and  other  powers  of  deep  interest,  as  well  to  the 
country  at  large  as  to  many  of  our  citizens.  To  effect  an 
adjustment  of  these  shall  continue  to  be  the  object  of  my 
earnest  endeavors;  and,  notwithstanding  the  difficulties  of 
the  task,  I  do  not  allow  myself  to  apprehend  unfavorable 
results.  Blessed  as  our  country  is  with  every  thing  which 
constitutes  national  strength,  she  is  fully  adequate  to  the 
maintenance  of  all  her  interests.  In  discharging  the  re 
sponsible  trust  confided  to  the  executive  in  this  respect,  it 
is  my  settled  purpose  to  ask  nothing  that  is  not  clearly 
right,  and  to  submit  to  nothing  that  is  wrong;  and  I  flatter 


144  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

myself,  that,  supported  by  the  other  branches  of  the  gov 
ernment,  and  by  the  DlteJitgeQCe  and  patriotism  of  the 
people,  we  shall  be  able,  under  the  protection  of  Prov 
idence,  to  cause  all  our  just  rights  to  be  respected. 

Of  the  unsettled  matters  between  the  United  States  and 
other  powers,  the  most  prominent  are  those  which  have 
for  years  been  the  subject  of  negotiation  with  England, 
France,  and  Spain.  The  late  periods  at  which  our  min 
isters  to  those  governments  left  the  United  States,  render 
it  impossible,  at  this  early  day,  to  inform  you  of  what  has 
been  done  on  the  subjects  with  which  they  have  been  re 
spectively  charged.  Relying  upon  the  justice  of  our  views 
in  relation  to  the  points  committed  to  negotiation,  and  the 
reciprocal  good  feeling  which  characterizes  our  intercourse 
with  those  nations,  we  have  the  best  reason  to  hope  for  a 
satisfactory  adjustment  of  existing  differences. 

With  Great  Britain,  alike  distinguished  in  peace  and 
war,  we  may  look  forward  to  years  of  peaceful,  honorable, 
and  elevated  competition.  Every  thing  in  the  condition 
and  history  of  the  two  nations  is  calculated  to  inspire 
sentiments  of  mutual  respect,  and  to  carry  conviction  to 
the  minds  of  both,  that  it  is  their  policy  to  preserve  the 
most  cordial  relations.  Such  are  my  own  views;  and  it  is 
not  to  be  doubted  that  such  are  also  the  prevailing  sen 
timents  of  our  constituents.  Although  neither  time  nor 
opportunity  has  been  afforded  for  a  full  development  of  the 
policy  which  the  present  cabinet  of  Great  Britain  designs 
to  pursue  towards  this  country,  I  indulge  the  hope  that  it 
will  be  of  a  just  and  pacific  character;  and  if  this  anticipa 
tion  be  realized,  we  may  look  with  confidence  to  a  speedy 
and  acceptable  adjustment  of  our  affairs. 

Under  the  convention  for  regulating,  by  reference  to  ar 
bitration,  the  disputed  points  of  boundary  under  the  fifth 
article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  the  proceedings  have  hitherto 
been  conducted  in  the  spirit  of  candor  and  liberality  which 
ought  ever  to  characterize  the  acts  of  sovereign  states, 
seeking  to  adjust,  by  the  most  unexceptionable  means, 
important  and  delicate  subjects  of  contention.  The  lir<t 
statements  of  the  parties  have  been  exchanged,  and  the 
finil  replication  on  our  part  is  in  a  course  of  preparation. 
This  subject  has  received  the  attention  demanded  by  its 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.          145 

great  and  peculiar  importance  to  a  patriotic  member  of 
this  confederacy.  The  exposition  of  our  rights,  already 
made,  is  such  as,  from  the  nigh  reputation  of  the  commis 
sioners  by  whom  it  has  been  prepared,  we  had  a  right  to 
expect.  Our  interests  at.  the  court  of  the  sovereign  who 
has  evinced  his  friendly  disposition,  by  assuming  the  del 
icate  task  of  arbitration,  have  been  committed  to  a  citi/en 
of  the  state  of  Maine,  whose  character,  talents,  and  inti 
mate  acquaintance  with  the  subject,  eminently  qualify  him 
for  so  responsible  a  trust.  With  full  confidence  in  the 
justice  of  our  cause,  and  in  the  probity,  intelligence,  and 
uncompromising  independence  of  the  illustrious  arbitrator, 
we  can  have  nothing  to  apprehend  from  the  result. 

From  France,  our  ancient  ally,  we  have  a  right  to  expect 
that  justice  which  becomes  the  sovereign  of  a  powerful, 
intelligent,  and  magnanimous  people.  The  beneficial 
effects  produced  by  the  commercial  convention  of  1822, 
limited  as  are  its  provisions,  are  too  obvious  not  to  make. 
a  salutary  impression  upon  the  minds  of  those  who 
are  charged  with  the  administration  of  her  government. 
Should  this  result  induce  a  disposition  to  embrace  to  their 
full  extent  the  wholesome  principles  which  constitute  our 
commercial  policy,  our  minister  to  that  court  will  be  found 
instructed  to  cherish  such  a  disposition,  and  to  aid  in  con 
ducting  it  to  useful  practical  conclusions.  The  claims  of 
our  citizens  for  depredations  upon  their  property,  long 
since  committed  under  the  authority,  arid  in  many  in 
stances  by  the  express  direction,  of  the  then  existing  gov 
ernment  of  France,  remain  unsatisfied  ;  and  must,  there 
fore,  continue  to  furnish  a  subject  of  unpleasant  discus 
sion,  and  possible  collision,  between  the  two  governments. 
I  cherish,  however,  a  lively  hope,  founded  as  well  on  the 
validity  of  those  claims,  and  the  established  policy  of  all 
enlightened  governments,  as  on  the  known  integrity  of  the 
French  monarch,  that  the  injurious  delays  of  the  past  will 
find  redress  in  the  equity  of  the  future.  Our  minister  has 
been  instructed  to  press  these  demands  on  the  French 
government  with  all  the  earnestness  which  is  called  for  by 
their  importance  and  irrefutable  justice;  and  in  a  spirit 
that  will  evince  the  respect  which  is  due  to  the  feelings 
of  those  from  whom  the  satisfaction  is  required. 
13 


146  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

Our  minister  recently  appointed  to  Spain  has  been 
authorized  to  assist  in  removing  evils  alike  injurious  to 
both  countries,  either  by  concluding  a  commercial  con 
vention  upon  liberal  and  reciprocal  terms,  or  by  urging 
the  acceptance,  in  their  full  extent,  of  the  mutually-bene 
ficial  provisions  of  our  navigation  act.  He  has  also  been 
instructed  to  make  a  further  appeal  to  the  justice  of  Spain, 
in  behalf  of  our  citizens,  for  indemnity  for  spoliations  upon 
our  commerce,  committed  under  her  authority  —  an  appeal 
which  the  pacific  and  liberal  course  observed  on  our  part, 
and  a  due  confidence  in  the  honor  of  that  government, 
authorize  us  to  expect  will  not  be  made  in  vain. 

With  other  European  powers,  our  intercourse  is  on  the 
most  friendly  footing.  In  Russia,  placed,  by  her  territo 
rial  limits,  extensive  population,  and  great  power,  high  in 
the  rank  of  nations,  the  United  States  have  always  found 
a  steadfast  friend.  Although  her  recent  invasions  of 
Turkey  awakened  a  lively  sympathy  for  those  who  were 
exposed  to  the  desolations  of  war,  we  cannot  but  anticipate 
that  the  result  will  prove  favorable  to  the  cause  of  civil 
ization,  and  to  the  progress  of  human  happiness.  The 
treaty  of  peace  between  these  powers  having  been  ratified, 
we  cannot  be  insensible  to  the  great  benefit  to  be  derived 
by  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  from  unlocking  the 
navigation  of  the  Black  Sea  —  a  free  passage  into  which  is 
secured  to  all  merchant  vessels  bound  to  ports  of  Russia 
under  a  flag  at  peace  with  the  Porte.  This  advantage, 
enjoyed  upon  conditions,  by  most  of  the  powers  of  Eu 
rope,  has  hitherto  been  withheld  from  us.  During  the  past 
summer,  an  antecedent  but  unsuccessful  attempt  to  obtain 
it,  was  renewed  under  circumstances  which  promised  the 
most  favorable  results.  Although  those  results  have  for 
tunately  been  thus  in  part  attained,  further  facilities  to  the 
enjoyment  of  this  new  field  for  the  enterprise  of  our  cit 
izens  are,  in  my  opinion,  sufficiently  desirable  to  insure  to 
them  our  most  zealous  attention. 

Our  trade  with  Austria,  although  of  secondary  impor 
tance,  has  been  gradually  increasing ;  and  is  now  so  ex 
tended  as  to  deserve  the  fostering  care  of  the  government. 
A  negotiation,  commenced  and  nearly  completed  with  that 
power,  by  the  late  administration,  has  been  consummated 


147 

by  a  treaty  of  amity,  navigation,  and  commerce,  which  will 
be  laid  before  the  Senate. 

During  the  recess  of  Congress,  our  diplomatic  relations 
with  Portugal  have  been  resumed.  The  peculiar  state  of 
things  in  that  country  caused  a  suspension  of  the  recogni 
tion  of  the  representative  who  presented  himself,  until  an 
opportunity  was  had  to  obtain  from  our  official  organ  there, 
information  regarding  the  actual,  and,  as  far  as  practicable, 
prospective  condition  of  the  authority  by  which  the  repre 
sentative  in  question  was  appointed.  This  information 
being  received,  the  application  of  the  established  rule  of 
our  government,  in  like  cases,  was  no  longer  withheld. 

Considerable  advances  have  been  made,  during  the 
present  year,  in  the  adjustment  of  claims  of  our  citizens 
upon  Denmark  for  spoliations  ;  but  all  that  we  have  a  right 
to  demand  from  that  government  in  their  behalf  has  not 
yet  been  conceded.  From  the  liberal  footing,  however, 
upon  which  this  subject  has,  with  the  approbation  of  the 
claimants,  been  placed  by  the  government,  together  with 
the  uniformly  just  and  friendly  disposition  which  has  been 
evinced  by  his  Danish  majesty,  there  is  a  reasonable 
ground  to  hope  that  this  single  subject  of  difference  will 
speedily  be  removed. 

Our  relations  with  the  Barbary  powers  continue,  as 
they  have  long  been,  of  the  most  favorable  character. 
The  policy  of  keeping  an  adequate  force  in  the  Mediter 
ranean,  as  security  for  the  continuance  of  this  tranquillity, 
will  be  persevered  in ;  as  well  as  a  similar  one  for  the  pro 
tection  of  our  commerce  and  fisheries  in  the  Pacific. 

The  southern  republics  of  our  hemisphere  have  not  yet 
realized  all  the  advantages  for  which  they  have  been  so 
long  struggling.  We  trust,  however,  that  the  day  is  not 
distant  when  the  restoration  of  peace  and  internal  quiet, 
under  permanent  systems  of  government,  securing  the 
liberty  and  promoting  the  happiness  of  the  citizens,  will 
crown  with  complete  success  their  long  and  arduous 
efforts  in  the  cause  of  self-government,  and  enable  us 
to  salute  them  as  friendly  rivals  in  all  that  is  truly  great 
and  glorious. 

The  recent  invasion  of  Mexico,  and  the  effect  thereby 
produced  upon  her  domestic  policy,  must  have  a  control- 


148  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

ling  influence  upon  the  great  question  of  South  American 
emancipation.  We  have  seen  the  fell  spirit  of  civil  dissen 
sion  rebuked,  and,  perhaps,  forever  stifled,  in  that  republic, 
by  the  love  of  independence.  If  it  be  true,  as  appearances 
strongly  indicate,  that  the  spirit  of  independence  is  the 
master  spirit,  and  if  a  corresponding  sentiment  prevail  in 
the  other  states,  this  devotion  to  liberty  cannot  be  without 
a  proper  effect  upon  the  counsels  of  the  mother  country. 
The  adoption  by  Spain  of  a  pacific  policy  towards  her 
former  colonies  —  an  event  consoling  to  humanity,  and  a 
blessing  to  the  world,  in  which  she  herself  cannot  fail 
largely  to  participate  —  may  be  most  reasonably  expected. 

The  claims  of  our  citizens  upon  the  South  American 
governments  generally,  are  in  a  train  of  settlement,  while 
the  principal  part  of  those  upon  Brazil  have  been  adjusted  ; 
and  a  decree  in  council,  ordering  bonds  to  be  issued  by 
the  minister  of  the  treasury  for  their  amount,  has  received 
the  sanction  of  his  imperial  majesty.  This  event,  together 
with  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  the  treaty  negoti 
ated  and  concluded  in  1828,  happily  terminates  all  serious 
causes  of  difference  with  that  power. 

Measures  have  been  taken  to  place  our  commercial  re 
lations  with  Peru  upon  a  better  footing  than  that  upon 
which  they  have  hitherto  rested ;  and  if  met  by  a  proper 
disposition  on  the  part  of  that  government,  important 
benefits  may  be  secured  to  both  countries. 

Deeply  interested  as  we  are  in  the  prosperity  of  our 
sister  republics,  and  more  particularly  in  that  of  our  im 
mediate  neighbor,  it  would  be  most  gratifying  to  me  were 
I  permitted  to  say,  that  the  treatment  which  we  have  re 
ceived  at  her  hands  has  been  as  universally  friendly,  as 
the  early  and  constant  solicitude  manifested  by  the  United 
States  for  her  success,  gave  us  a  right  to  expect.  But  it 
becomes  my  duty  to  inform  you  that  prejudices  long  in 
dulged  by  a  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico  against 
the  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the 
United  States,  have  had  an  unfortunate  influence  upon  the 
affairs  of  the  two  countries,  and  have  diminished  that  use 
fulness  to  his  own  which  was  justly  to  be  expected  from 
his  talents  and  zeal.  To  this  cause,  in  a  great  degree,  is  to 
be  imputed  the  failure  of  several  measures  equally  interest- 


149 

ing  to  both  parties,  but  particulaily  that  of  the  Mexican 
government  to  ratify  a  treaty  negotiated  and  concluded 
in  its  own  capital,  and  under  its  own  eye.  Under  these 
circumstances,  it  appeared  expedient  to  give  to  Mr.  Poin- 
sett  the  option  either  to  return  or  not,  as  in  his  judgment 
the  interest  of  his  country  might  require,  and  instructions 
to  that  end  were  prepared ;  but  before  they  could  be  de 
spatched,  a  communication  was  received  from  the  gov 
ernment  of  Mexico,  through  its  charge  d'affaires  here, 
requesting  the  recall  of  our  minister.  This  was  promptly 
complied  with ;  and  a  representative  of  a  rank  correspond 
ing  with  that  of  the  Mexican  diplomatic  agent  near  this 
government  was  appointed.  Our  conduct  towards  that 
republic  has  been  uniformly  of  the  most  friendly  character ; 
and  having  thus  removed  the  only  alleged  obstacle  to 
harmonious  intercourse,  I  cannot  but.  hope  that  an  advan 
tageous  change  will  occur  in  our  affairs. 

In  justice  to  Mr.  Poinsett,  it  is  proper  to  say,  that  my 
immediate  compliance  with  the  application  for  his  recall, 
and  the  appointment  of  a  successor,  are  not  to  be  ascribed 
to  any  evidence  that  the  imputation  of  an  improper  inter 
ference,  by  him,  in  the  local  politics  of  Mexico,  was  well 
founded ;  nor  to  a  want  of  confidence  in  his  talents  or  in 
tegrity  ;  and  to  add,  that  the  truth  of  that  charge  has  never 
been  affirmed  by  the  federal  government  of  Mexico,  in 
their  communications  with  this, 

I  consider  it  one  of  the  most  urgent  of  my  duties  to 
bring  to  your  attention  the  propriety  of  amending  that 
part  of  our  constitution  which  relates  to  the  election  of 
President  and  Vice-President.  Our  system  of  government 
was,  by  its  framers,  deemed  an  experiment ;  and  they,  there 
fore,  consistently  provided  a  mode  of  remedying  its  defects. 

To  the  people  belongs  the  right  of  electing  their  chief 
magistrate ;  it  was  never  designed  that  their  choice  should, 
in  any  case,  be  defeated,  either  by  the  intervention  of 
electoral  colleges,  or  by  the  agency  confided,  under  certain 
contingencies,  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Experi 
ence  proves,  that,  in  proportion  as  agents  to  execute  the 
will  of  the  people  are  multiplied,  there  is  danger  of  their 
wishes  being  frustrated.  Some  may  be  unfaithful ;  all  are 
liable  to  err.  So  far,  therefore,  as  the  people  can,  with 
13* 


150  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

convenience,  speak,  it  is  safer  for  them  to  express  their 
own  will. 

The  number  of  aspirants  to  the  presidency,  and  the  di 
versity  of  the  interests  which  may  influence  their  claims, 
leave  little  reason  to  expect  a  choice  in  the  first  instance ; 
and,  in  that  event,  the  election  must  devolve  on  the  House 
of  Representatives,  where,  it  is  obvious,  the  will  of  the  peo 
ple  may  not  be  always  ascertained,  or,  if  ascertained,  may 
not  be  regarded.  From  the  mode  of  voting  by  states,  the 
choice  is  to  be  made  by  twenty-four  votes;  and  it  may 
often  occur,  that  one  of  those  will  be  controlled  by  an  in 
dividual  representative.  Honors  and  offices  are  at  the 
disposal  of  the  successful  candidate.  Repeated  ballotings 
may  make  it  apparent  that  a  single  individual  holds  the 
cast  in  his  hand.  May  he  not  be  tempted  to  name  his 
reward  1  But  even  without  corruption  —  supposing  the 
probity  of  the  representative  to  be  proof  against  the  power 
ful  motives  by  which  it  may  be  assailed  —  the  will  of  the 
people  is  still  constantly  liable  to  be  misrepresented.  One 
may  err  from  ignorance  of  the  wishes  of  his  constituents ; 
another,  from  the  conviction  that  it  is  his  duty  to  be  gov 
erned  by  his  own  judgment  of  the  fitness  of  the  candidates  ; 
finally,  although  all  were  inflexibly  honest  —  all  accurately 
informed  of  the  wishes  of  their  constituents  —  yet,  under 
the  present  mode  of  election,  a  minority  may  often  elect 
the  President ;  and  when  this  happens,  it  may  reasonably 
be  expected  that  efforts  will  be  made  on  the  part  of  the 
majority  to  rectify  this  injurious  operation  of  their  institu 
tions.  But  although  no  evils  of  this  character  should  result 
from  such  a  perversion  of  the  first  principle  of  our  system 
—  that  the  majority  is  to  govern  —  it  must  be  very  certain 
that  a  President  elected  by  a  minority  cannot  enjoy  the  con 
fidence  necessary  to  the  successful  discharge  of  his  duties. 

In  this,  as  in  all  other  matters  of  public  concern,  policy 
requires  that  as  few  impediments  as  possible  should  exist 
to  the  free  operation  of  the  public  will.  Let  us,  then,  en 
deavor  to  so  amend  our  system,  that  the  office  of  chief 
magistrate  may  not  be  conferred  upon  any  citizen  but  in 
pursuance  of  a  fair  expression  of  the  will  of  the  majority. 

I  would  therefore  recommend  such  an  amendment  of  the 
constitution  as  may  remove  all  intermediate  agency  in  the 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  151 

election  of  the  President  and  Vice-President.  The  mode 
may  be  so  regulated  as  to  preserve  to  each  state  its  present 
relative  weight  in  the  election;  and  a  failure  in  the  first 
attempt  may  be  provided  for  by  confining  the  second  to  a 
choice  between  the  two  highest  candidates.  In  connection 
with  such  an  amendment,  it  would  seem  advisable  to  limit 
the  service  of  the  chief  magistrate  to  a  single  term  of  either 
four  or  six  years.  If,  however,  it  should  not  be  adopted, 
it  is  worthy  of  consideration  whether  a  provision,  disquali 
fying  for  office  the  representatives  in  Congress  on  whom 
such  an  election  may  have  devolved,  would  not  be  proper. 

While  members  of  Congress  can  be  constitutionally  ap 
pointed  to  offices  of  trust  and  profit,  it  will  be  the  practice, 
even  under  the  most  conscientious  adherence  to  duty,  to 
select  them  for  such  stations  as  they  are  believed  to  be 
better  qualified  to  fill  than  other  citizens ;  but  the  purity 
of  our  government  would  doubtless  be  promoted  by  their 
exclusion  from  all  appointments  in  the  gift  of  the  President, 
in  whose  election  they  may  have  been  officially  concerned. 
The  nature  of  the  judicial  office,  and  the  necessity  of 
securing  in  the  cabinet,  and  diplomatic  stations  of  the  high 
est  rank,  the  best  talents  and  political  experience,  should, 
perhaps,  except  these  from  the  exclusion. 

There  are,  perhaps,  few  men  who  can  for  any  great 
length  of  time  enjoy  office  and  power,  without  being  more 
or  less  under  the  influence  of  feelings  unfavorable  to  the 
faithful  discharge  of  their  public  duties.  Their  integrity 
may  be  proof  against  improper  considerations  immediately 
addressed  to  themselves ;  but  they  are  apt  to  acquire  a  hab 
it  of  looking  with  indifference  upon  the  public  interests, 
and  of  tolerating  conduct  from  which  an  unpractised  man 
would  revolt.  Office  is  considered  as  a  species  of  proper 
ty  ;  and  government  rather  as  a  means  of  promoting  in 
dividual  interest,  than  as  an  instrument  created  solely  for 
the  service  of  the  people.  Corruption  in  some,  and  in 
others  a  perversion  of  correct  feelings  and  principles,  divert 
government  from  its  legitimate  ends,  and  make  it  an  engine 
for  the  support  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many. 
The  duties  of  all  public  officers  are,  or  at  least  admit  of 
being,  made  so  plain  and  simple,  that  men  of  intelligence 
may  readily  qualify  themselves  for  their  performance ;  and 


152  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

I  cannot  but  believe  that  more  is  lost  by  the  long  contin 
uance  of  men  in  office  than  is  generally  to  be  gained  by 
their  experience.  I  submit,  therefore,  to  your  considera 
tion,  whether  the  efficiency  of  the  government  would  not  be 
promoted,  and  official  industry  and  integrity  better  secured, 
by  a  general  extension  of  the  law  which  limits  appoint 
ments  to  four  years. 

In  a  country  where  offices  are  created  solely  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people,  no  one  man  has  any  more  intrinsic 
right  to  official  station  than  another.  Offices  were  not 
established  to  give  support  to  particular  men  at  the  public 
expense.  No  individual  wrong  is  therefore  done  by  re 
moval,  since  neither  appointment  to  nor  continuance  in 
office  is  matter  of  right.  The  incumbent  became  an  officer 
with  a  view  to  the  public  benefits ;  and  when  these  require 
his  removal,  they  are  not  to  be  sacrificed  to  private  inter 
ests.  It  is  the  people,  and  they  alone,  who  have  a  right  to 
complain  when  a  bad  officer  is  substituted  for  a  good  one. 
He  who  is  removed  has  the  same  means  of  obtaining  a  liv 
ing  that  are  enjoyed  by  the  millions  who  never  held  office. 
The  proposed  limitation  would  destroy  the  idea  of  prop 
erty,  now  so  generally  connected  with  official  station  ;  and 
although  individual  distress  may  be  sometimes  produced, 
it  would,  by  promoting  that  rotation  which  constitutes  a 
leading  principle  in  the  republican  creed,  give  healthful 
action  to  the  system. 

No  very  considerable  change  has  occurred,  during  the 
recess  of  Congress,  in  the  condition  of  either  our  agricul 
ture,  commerce,  or  manufactures.  The  operation  of  the 
tariff  has  not  proved  so  injurious  to  the  two  former,  or  as 
beneficial  to  the  latter,  as  was  anticipated.  Importations 
of  foreign  goods  have  not  been  sensibly  diminished  ;  while 
domestic  competition,  under  an  illusive  excitement,  has 
increased  the  production  much  beyond  the  demand  for 
home  consumption.  The  consequences  have  been,  low 
prices,  temporary  embarrassment,  and  partial  loss.  That 
such  of  our  manufacturing  establishments  as  are  based 
upon  capital,  and  are  prudently  managed,  will  survive  the 
shock,  and  be  ultimately  profitable,  there  is  no  good  reason 
to  doubt. 

To  regulate  its  conduct,  so  as  to  promote  equally  the 


FIRST    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.  153 

prosperity  of  these  three  cardinal  interests,  is  one  of  the 
most  difficult  tasks  of  government ;  and  it  may  be  regretted 
that  the  complicated  restrictions  which  now  embarrass  the 
intercourse  of  nations,  could  not  by  common  consent  be 
abolished,  and  commerce  allowed  to  flow  in  those  chan 
nels  to  which  individual  enterprise,  always  its  surest  guide, 
might  direct  it.  But  we  must  ever  expect  selfish  legisla 
tion  in  other  nations,  and  are,  therefore,  compelled  to  adapt 
our  own  to  their  regulations,  in  the  manner  best  calculated 
to  avoid  serious  injury,  and  to  harmonize  the  conflicting 
interests  of  our  agriculture,  our  commerce,  and  our  man 
ufactures.  Under  these  impressions,  I  invite  your  atten 
tion  to  the  existing  tariff,  believing  that  some  of  its  pro 
visions  require  modification. 

The  general  rule  to  be  applied  in  graduating  the  duties 
upon  the  articles  of  foreign  growth  or  manufacture,  is 
that  which  will  place  our  own  in  fair  competition  with 
those  of  other  countries ;  and  the  inducements  to  advance 
even  a  step  beyond  this  point,  are  controlling  in  regard  to 
those  articles  which  are  of  primary  necessity  in  time  of  war. 
When  we  reflect  upon  the  difficulty  and  delicacy  of  this 
operation,  it  is  important  that  it  should  never  be  attempted 
but  with  the  utmost  caution.  Frequent  legislation  in  re 
gard  to  any  branch  of  industry,  affecting  its  value,  and  by 
which  its  capital  may  be  transferred  to  new  channels,  must 
always  be  productive  of  hazardous  speculation  and  loss. 

In  deliberating,  therefore,  on  these  interesting  subjects, 
local  feelings  and  prejudices  should  be  merged  in  the 
patriotic  determination  to  promote  the  great  interests  of 
the  whole.  All  the  attempts  to  connect  them  with  the 
party  conflicts  of  the  day  are  necessarily  injurious,  and 
should  be  discountenanced.  Our  action  upon  them  should 
be  under  the  control  of  higher  and  purer  motives.  Legis 
lation,  subjected  to  such  influence,  can  never  be  just, 
and  will  not  long  retain  the  sanction  of  the  people,  whose 
active  patriotism  is  not  bounded  by  sectional  limits,  nor 
insensible  to  that  spirit  of  concession  and  forbearance 
which  gave  life  to  our  political  compact,  and  still  sustains 
it.  Discarding  all  calculations  of  political  ascendency, 
the  north,  the  south,  the  east,  and  the  west,  should  unite 


154  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

in  diminishing  any  burden,  of  which  either  may  justly 
complain. 

The  agricultural  interest  of  our  country  is  so  essentially 
connected  with  every  other,  and  so  superior  in  importance 
to  them  all,  that  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  invite  it  to  your 
particular  attention.  It  is  principally  as  manufactures  and 
commerce  tend  to  increase  the  value  of  agricultural  pro 
ductions,  and  to  extend  their  application  to  the  wants  and 
comforts  of  society,  that  they  deserve  the  fostering  care  of 
government. 

Looking  forward  to  the  period,  not  far  distant,  when  a 
sinking  fund  will  no  longer  be  required,  the  duties  on 
those  articles  of  importation  which  cannot  come  in  com 
petition  with  our  own  productions,  are  the  first  that  should 
engage  the  attention  of  Congress  in  the  modification  of  the 
tariff.  Of  these,  tea  and  coffee  are  the  most  prominent ; 
they  enter  largely  into  the  consumption  of  the  country,  and 
have  become  articles  of  necessity  to  all  classes.  A  reduc 
tion,  therefore,  of  the  existing  duties,  will  be  felt  as  a  com 
mon  benefit;  but,  like  all  other  legislation  connected  with 
commerce,  to  be  efficacious,  and  not  injurious,  it  should 
be  gradual  and  certain. 

The  public  prosperity  is  evinced  in  the  increased  rev 
enue  arising  from  the  sales  of  public  lands  :  and  in  the 
steady  maintenance  of  that  produced  by  imposts  and  ton 
nage,  notwithstanding  the  additional  duties  imposed  by  the 
act  of  19th  of  May,  1828,  and  the  unusual  importations  in 
the  early  part  of  that  year. 

The  balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  1st  January,  1829, 
was  $5,972,435  81.  The  receipts  of  the  current  year 
are  estimated  at  $24,602,230  ;  and  the  expenditures  for 
the  same  time  at  $26,164,595;  leaving  a  balance  in  the 
treasury,  on  the  1st  of  January  next,  of  $4,410,070  81. 

There  will  have  been  paid  on  account  of  the  public 
debt  during  the  present  year,  the  sum  of  $12,405,005  80; 
reducing  the  whole  debt  of  the  government,  on  the  1st  of 
January  next,  to  $48,565,406  50,  including  seven  millions 
of  five  per  cent,  stock  subscribed  to  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States.  The  payment  on  account  of  the  public 
debt,  made  on  the  1st  of  July  last,  was  $8,715,462  87.  It 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL,  MESSAGE.  155 

was  apprehended  that  the  sudden  withdrawal  of  so  large 
a  sum  from  the  banks  in  which  it  was  deposited,  at  a  time 
of  unusual  pressure  in  the  money  market,  might  cause 
much  injury  to  the  interests  dependent  on  bank  accommo 
dations.  But  this  evil  was  wholly  averted  by  an  early  an 
ticipation  of  it  at  the  treasury,  aided  by  the  judicious 
arrangements  of  the  officers  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States. 

The  state  of  the  finances  exhibits  the  resources  of  the 
nation  in  an  aspect  highly  flattering  to  its  industry,  and 
auspicious  of  the  ability  of  the  government,  in  a  very 
short  time,  to  extinguish  the  public  debt.  When  this  shall 
be  done,  our  population  will  be  relieved  from  a  consider 
able  portion  of  its  present  burdens ;  and  will  find  not  only 
new  motives  to  patriotic  affection,  but  additional  means 
for  the  display  of  individual  enterprise.  The  fiscal  power 
of  the  states  will  also  be  increased ;  and  may  be  more 
extensively  exerted  in  favor  of  education  and  other  public 
objects ;  while  ample  means  will  remain  in  the  federal 
government  to  promote  the  general  wealth  in  all  the  modes 
permitted  to  its  authority. 

After  the  extinction  of  the  public  debt,  it  is  not  proba 
ble  that  any  adjustment  of  the  tariff,  upon  principles  satis 
factory  to  the  people  of  the  Union,  will,  until  a  remote 
period,  if  ever,  leave  the  government  without  a  consider 
able  surplus  in  the  treasury,  beyond  what  may  be  required 
for  its  current  service.  As,  then,  the  period  approaches 
when  the  application  of  the  revenue  to  payment  of  the 
debt  will  cease,  the  disposition  of  the  surplus  will  present 
a  subject  for  the  serious  deliberation  of  Congress  ;  and  it 
may  be  fortunate  for  the  country  that  it  is  yet  to  be  deci 
ded.  Considered  in  connection  with  the  difficulties  which 
have  heretofore  attended  appropriations  for  purposes  of 
internal  improvement,  and  with  those  which  this  experi 
ence  tells  us  will  certainly  arise,  whenever  power  over 
such  subjects  may  be  exercised  by  the  general  government, 
it  is  hoped  that  it  may  lead  to  the  adoption  of  some  plan 
which  will  reconcile  the  diversified  interests  of  the  states, 
and  strengthen  the  bonds  which  unite  them.  Every 
member  of  the  Union,  in  peace  and  in  war,  will  be  bene 
fited  by  the  improvement  of  inland  navigation,  and  the 


156  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

construction  of  highways  in  the  several  states.  Let  us, 
then,  endeavor  to  attain  this  benefit  in  a  mode  that  will  be 
satisfactory  to  all.  That  hitherto  adopted  has,  by  many 
of  our  fellow-citizens,  been  deprecated  as  an  infraction  of 
the  constitution;  while  by  others  it  has  been  viewed  as  in 
expedient.  All  feel  that  it  has  been  employed  at  the  ex 
pense  of  harmony  in  the  legislative  councils. 

To  avoid  these  evils,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  most  safe, 
just,  and  federal  disposition  which  could  be  made  of  this 
surplus  revenue,  would  be  its  apportionment  among  the 
several  states,  according  to  their  ratio  of  representation ; 
and  should  this  measure  not  be  found  warranted  by  the 
constitution,  that  it  would  be  expedient  to  propose  to  the 
states  an  amendment  authorizing  it.  I  regard  an  appeal  to 
the  source  of  power,  in  all  cases  of  real  doubt,  and  where 
its  exercise  is  deemed  advisable  to  the  general  welfare,  as 
among  the  most  sacred  of  all  our  obligations.  Upon  this 
country,  more  than  any  other,  has,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  been  cast  the  special  guardianship  of  the  great  prin 
ciple  of  adherence  to  written  constitutions.  If  it  fail  here, 
all  hope  in  regard  to  it  will  be  extinguished.  That  this 
was  intended  to  be  a  government  of  limited  and  specific, 
and  not  general  powers,  must  be  admitted  by  all ;  and  it  is 
our  duty  to  preserve  for  it  the  character  intended  by  its 
framers.  If  experience  points  out  the  necessity  for  an  en 
largement  of  these  powers,  let  us  apply  for  it  to  those  for 
whose  benefit  it  is  to  be  exercised,  and  not  undermine  the 
whole  system  by  a  resort  to  overstrained  constructions. 
The  scheme  has  worked  well.  It  has  exceeded  the  hopes 
of  those  who  devised  it,  and  become  an  object  of  admira 
tion  to  the  world.  We  are  responsible  to  our  country,  and 
to  the  glorious  cause  of  self-government,  for  the  preserva 
tion  of  so  great  a  good.  The  great  mass  of  legislation 
relating  to  our  internal  affairs,  was  intended  to  be  left 
where  the  federal  convention  found  it  —  in  the  state 
governments.  Nothing  is  clearer,  in  my  view,  than  that 
we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  the  success  of  the  constitution 
under  which  we  are  now  acting,  to  the  watchful  and  aux 
iliary  operation  of  the  state  authorities.  This  is  not  the 
reflection  of  a  day,  but  belongs  to  the  most  deeply-rooted 
convictions  of  my  mind.  I  cannot,  therefore,  too  strongly 


157 

or  too  earnestly,  for  my  own  sense  of  its  importance,  warn 
you  against  all  encroachment  upon  the  legitimate  sphere 
of  state  sovereignty.  Sustained  by  its  healthful  and  in 
vigorating  influence,  the  federal  system  can  never  fall. 

In  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  the  long  credits  au 
thorized  on  goods  imported  from  beyond  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  are  the  chief  cause  of  the  losses  at  present  sus 
tained.  If  these  were  shortened  to  six,  nine,  and  twelve 
months,  and  warehouses  provided  by  government,  sufficient 
to  receive  the  goods  offered  in  deposit  for  security  and 
for  debenture,  and  if  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  a 
priority  of  payment  out  of  the  estates  of  its  insolvent 
debtors  was  more  effectually  secured,  this  evil  would  in  a 
great  measure  be  obviated.  An  authority  to  construct 
such  houses  is,  therefore,  with  the  proposed  alteration  of 
the  credits,  recommended  to  your  attention. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  laws  for  the  collection 
and  security  of  the  revenue  arising  from  imposts,  were 
chiefly  framed  when  the  rates  of  duties  on  imported  goods- 
presented  much  less  temptation  for  illicit  trade  than  at 
present  exists.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  these  laws 
are,  in  some  respects,  quite  insufficient  for  the  proper  se 
curity  of  the  revenue,  and  the  protection  of  the  interests 
of  those  who  are  disposed  to  observe  them.  The  injurious 
and  demoralizing  tendency  of  a  successful  system  of  smug 
gling  is  so  obvious  as  not  to  require  comment,  and  cannot 
be  too  carefully  guarded  against.  I  therefore  suggest  to 
Congress  the  propriety  of  adopting  efficient  measures  to 
prevent  this  evil,  avoiding,  however,  as  much  as  possible, 
every  unnecessary  infringement  of  individual  liberty,  and 
embarrassment  of  fair  and  lawful  business. 

On  an  examination  of  the  records  of  the  treasury,  I 
have  been  forcibly  struck  with  the  large  amount  of  public 
money  which  appears  to  be  outstanding.  Of  this  sum 
thus  due^  from  individuals  to  the  government,  a  consider 
able  portion  is  undoubtedly  desperate,  and,  in  many  in 
stances,  has  probably  been  rendered  so  by  remissness  in 
the  agents  charged  with  its  collection.  By  proper  exer 
tions,  a  great  part,  however,  may  yet  be  recovered ;  and 
whatever  may  be  the  portions  respectively  belonging  to 
these  two  classes,  it  behoves  the  government  to  ascertain 
14 


158  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  real  state  of  the  fact.  This  can  be  done  only  by  the 
prompt  adoption  of  judicious  measures  for  the  collection 
of  such  as  may  be  made  available.  It  is  believed  that  a 
very  large  amount  has  been  lost  through  the  inadequacy 
of  the  means  provided  for  the  collection  of  debts  due  to 
the  public ;  and  that  this  inadequacy  lies  chiefly  in  the 
want  of  legal  skill,  habitually  and  constantly  employed  in 
the  direction  of  the  agents  engaged  in  the  service.  It 
must,  I  think,  be  admitted,  that  the  supervisory  power 
over  suits  brought  by  the  public,  which  is  now  vested  in 
an  accounting  officer  of  the  treasury,  not  selected  with  a 
view  to  his  legal  knowledge,  and  encumbered  as  he  is  with 
numerous  other  duties,  operates  unfavorably  to  the  public 
interest. 

It  is  important  that  this  branch  of  the  public  service 
should  be  subject  to  the  supervision  of  such  professional 
skill  as  will  give  it  efficacy.  The  expense  attendant 
upon  such  a  modification  of  the  executive  department, 
would  be  justified  by  the  soundest  principles  of  econo 
my.  I  would  recommend,  therefore,  that  the  duties  now 
assigned  to  the  agent  of  the  treasury,  so  far  as  they 
relate  to  the  superintendence  and  management  of  legal 
proceedings  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  be  trans 
ferred  to  the  attorney-general ;  and  that  this  officer  be 
placed  on  the  same  footing,  in  all  respects,  as  the  heads  of 
the  other  departments — receiving  like  compensation,  and 
having  such  subordinate  officers  provided  for  his  depart 
ment,  as  may  be  requisite  for  the  discharge  of  these  addi 
tional  duties.  The  professional  skill  of  the  attorney- 
general,  employed  in  directing  the  conduct  of  marshals 
and  district  attorneys,  would  hasten  the  collection  of  debts 
now  in  suit,  and  hereafter  save  much  to  the  government. 
It  might  be  further  extended  to  the  superintendence  of  all 
criminal  proceedings  for  offences  against  the  United  States. 
In  making  this  transfer,  great  care  should  be  taken,  how 
ever,  that  the  power  necessary  to  the  treasury  department 
be  not  impaired ;  one  of  its  greatest  securities  consisting 
in  a  control  over  all  accounts  until  they  are  audited  or 
reported  for  suit. 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  views,  I  would  suggest, 
also,  an  inquiry,  whether  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  Con- 


159 

gress,  authorizing  the  discharge  of  the  persons  of  debtors 
to  the  government  from  imprisonment,  may  not,  consist 
ently  with  the  public  interest,  be  extended  to  the  release 
of  the  debt,  where  the  conduct  of  the  debtor  is  wholly 
exempt  from  the  imputation  of  fraud.  Some  more  liberal 
policy  than  that  which  now  prevails  in  reference  to  this 
unfortunate  class  of  citizens  is  certainly  due  to  them,  and 
would  prove  beneficial  to  the  country.  The  continuance 
of  the  liability  after  the  means  to  discharge  it  have  been 
exhausted,  can  only  serve  to  dispirit  the  debtor ;  or  where 
his  resources  are  but  partial,  the  want  of  power  in  the 
government  to  compromise  and  release  the  demand,  insti 
gates  to  fraud,  as  the  only  resource  for  securing  a  support 
to  his  family.  He  thus  sinks  into  a  state  of  apathy,  or 
becomes  a  useless  drone  in  society,  or  a  vicious  member 
of  it,  if  not  a  feeling  witness  of  the  rigor  and  inhumanity 
of  his  country.  All  experience  proves  that  an  oppressive 
debt  is  the  bane  of  enterprise  ;  and  it  should  be  the  care 
of  a  republic  not  to  exert  a  grinding  power  over  misfortune 
and  poverty. 

Since  the  last  session  of  Congress,  numerous  frauds  on 
the  treasury  have  been  discovered,  which  I  thought  it  my 
duty  to  bring  under  the  cognizance  of  the  United  States 
Court,  for  this  district,  by  a  criminal  prosecution.  It  was 
my  opinion,  and  that  of  able  counsel  who  were  consulted, 
that  the  cases  came  within  the  penalties  of  the  act  of  the 
17th  Congress,  approved  3d  March,  1823,  providing  for 
the  punishment  of  frauds  committed  on  the  government 
of  the  United  States.  Either  from  some  defect  in  the  law 
or  in  its  administration,  every  effort  to  bring  the  accused 
to  trial  under  its  provisions  proved  ineffectual,  and  the 
government  was  driven  to  the  necessity  of  resorting  to  the 
vague  and  inadequate  provisions  of  the  common  law.  It  is 
therefore  my  duty  to  call  your  attention  to  the  laws  which 
have  been  passed  for  the  protection  of  the  treasury.  If, 
indeed,  there  is  no  provision  by  which  those  who  may  be 
unworthily  intrusted  with  its  guardianship,  can  be  punished 
for  the  most  flagrant  violation  of  duty,  extending  even  to 
the  most  fraudulent  appropriation  of  the  public  funds  to 
their  own  use,  it  is  time  to  remedy  so  dangerous  an  omis 
sion.  Or,  if  the  law  has  been  perverted  from  its  original 


160  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

purposes,  and  criminals  deserving  to  be  punished  under 
its  provisions,  have  been  rescued  by  legal  subtilties,  it 
ought  to  be  made  so  plain,  by  amendatory  provisions,  as 
to  baffle  the  arts  of  perversion,  and  accomplish  the  ends 
of  its  original  enactment. 

In  one  of  the  most  flagrant  cases,  the  court  decided 
that  the  prosecution  was  barred  by  the  statute  which  limits 
prosecutions  for  fraud  to  two  years.  In  this  case,  all  the 
evidences  of  the  fraud,  and  indeed  all  knowledge  that  a 
fraud  had  been  committed,  were  in  the  possession  of  the 
party  accused,  until  after  the  two  years  had  elapsed. 
Surely  the  statute  ought  not  to  run  in  favor  of  any  man 
while  he  retains  all  the  evidences  of  his  crime  in  his  own 
possession ;  and  least  of  all,  in  favor  of  a  public  officer 
who  continues  to  defraud  the  treasury,  and  conceal  the 
transaction  for  the  brief  term  of  two  years.  I  would 
therefore  recommend  such  an  alteration  of  the  law  as  will 
give  the  injured  party  and  the  government  two  years  after 
the  disclosure  of  the  fraud,  or  after  the  accused  is  out  of 
office,  to  commence  their  prosecution. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  I  invite  the  attention  of 
Congress  to  a  general  and  minute  inquiry  into  the  condition 
of  the  government,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  what  offices 
can  be  dispensed  with,  what  expenses  retrenched,  and 
what  improvements  may  be  made  in  the  organization  of  its 
various  parts  to  secure  the  proper  responsibility  of  public 
agents,  and  promote  efficiency  and  justice  in  all  its  op 
erations. 

The  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  will  make  you 
acquainted  with  the  condition  of  our  army,  fortifications, 
arsenals,  and  Indian  affairs.  The  proper  discipline  of  the 
army,  the  training  and  equipment  of  the  militia,  the  edu 
cation  bestowed  at  West  Point,  and  the  accumulation  of 
the  means  of  defence,  applicable  to  the  naval  force,  will 
tend  to  prolong  the  peace  we  now  enjoy,  and  which  every 
good  citizen,  more  especially  those  who  have  felt  the  mis 
eries  of  even  a  successful  warfare,  must  ardently  desire  to 
perpetuate. 

The  returns  from  the  subordinate  branches  of  this  ser 
vice  exhibit  a  regularity  and  order  highly  creditable  to  its 
character :  both  officers  and  soldiers  seem  imbued  with  a 


161 

proper  sense  of  duty,  and  conform  to  the  restraints  of 
exact  discipline  with  that  cheerfulness  which  becomes  the 
profession  of  arms.  There  is  need,  however,  of  further 
legislation  to  obviate  the  inconveniences  specified  in  the 
report  under  consideration;  to  some  of  which  it  is  proper 
that  I  should  call  your  particular  attention. 

The  act  of  Congress  of  the  2d  March,  1821,  to  reduce 
and  fix  the  military  establishment,  remaining  unexecuted 
as  it  regards  the  command  of  one  of  the  regiments  of 
artillery,  cannot  now  be  deemed  a  guide  to  the  executive 
in  making  the  proper  appointment.  An  explanatory  act, 
designating  the  class  of  officers  out  of  which  this  grade  is 
to  be  filled,  —  whether  from  the  military  list,  as  existing 
prior  to  the  act  of  1821,  or  from  it,  as  it  has  been  fixed 
by  that  act,  —  would  remove  this  difficulty.  It  is  also 
important  that  the  laws  regulating  the  pay  and  emoluments 
of  the  officers  generally,  should  be  more  specific  than 
they  now  are.  Those,  for  example,  in  relation  to  the 
paymaster  and  surgeon-general,  assign  to  them  an  annual 
salary  of  $2,590 ;  but  are  silent  as  to  allowances  which, 
in  certain  exigencies  of  the  service,  may  be  deemed  in 
dispensable  to  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  This  circum 
stance  has  been  the  authority  for  extending  to  them  various 
allowances  at  different  times  under  former  administrations ; 
but  no  uniform  rule  has  been  observed  on  the  subject. 
Similar  inconveniences  exist  in  other  cases,  in  which  the 
construction  put  upon  the  laws  by  the  public  accountants 
may  operate  unequally,  produce  confusion,  and  expose 
officers  to  the  odium  of  claiming  what  is  not  their  due. 

I  recommend  to  your  fostering  care,  as  one  of  our 
safest  means  of  national  defence,  the  Military  Academy. 
This  institution  has  already  exercised  the  happiest  influ 
ence  upon  the  moral  and  intellectual  character  of  our 
army ;  and  such  of  the  graduates  as,  from  various  causes, 
may  not  pursue  the  profession  of  arms,  will  be  scarcely 
less  useful  as  citizens.  Their  knowledge  of  the  military 
art  will  be  advantageously  employed  in  the  militia  ser 
vice,  and  in  a  measure  secure  to  that  class  of  troops 
the  advantages  which  in  this  respect  belong  to  standing 
armies. 

I  would  also  sucrcrest  a  review  of  the  pension  law,  for 
14* 


162  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  purpose  of  extending  its  benefits  to  every  revolutionary 
soldier  who  aided  in  establishing  our  liberties,  and  who  is 
unable  to  maintain  himself  in  comfort.  Those  relics  of 
the  war  of  independence  have  strong  claims  upon  their 
country's  gratitude  and  bounty.  The  law  is  defective  in 
not  embracing  within  its  provisions  all  those  who  were 
during  the  last  war  disabled  from  supporting  themselves 
by  manual  labor.  Such  an  amendment  would  add  but 
little  to  the  amount  of  pensions,  and  is  called  for  by  the 
sympathies  of  the  people,  as  well  as  by  considerations  of 
sound  policy.  It  will  be  perceived  that  a  large  addition  to 
the  list  of  pensioners  has  been  occasioned  by  an  order  of 
the  late  administration,  departing  materially  from  the  rules 
which  had  previously  prevailed.  Considering  it  an  act  of 
legislation,  I  suspended  its  operation  as  soon  as  I  was  in 
formed  that  it  had  commenced.  Before  this  period,  how 
ever,  applications  under  the  new  regulation  had  been 
preferred,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-four ;  of 
which,  on  the  27th  March,  the  date  of  its  revocation, 
eighty-seven  were  admitted.  For  the  amount  there  was 
neither  estimate  nor  appropriation  ;  and  besides  this  de 
ficiency,  the  regular  allowances,  according  to  the  rules 
which  have  heretofore  governed  the  department,  exceed 
the  estimate  of  its  late  secretary  by  about  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  for  which  an  appropriation  is  asked. 

Your  particular  attention  is  requested  to  that  part  of  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  which  relates  to  the  money 
held  in  trust  for  the  Seneca  tribe  of  Indians.  It  will  be 
perceived  that,  without  legislative  aid,  the  executive  can 
not  obviate  the  embarrassments  occasioned  by  the  dim 
inution  of  the  dividends  on  that  fund,  which  originally 
amounted  to  $100,000,  and  has  recently  been  invested  in 
the  United  States  three  per  cent,  stock. 

The  condition  and  ulterior  destiny  of  the  Indian  tribes 
within  the  limits  of  some  of  our  states,  have  become  ob 
jects  of  much  interest  and  importance.  It  has  long  been 
the  policy  of  government  to  introduce  among  them  the 
arts  of  civilization,  in  the  hope  of  gradually  reclaiming 
them  from  a  wandering  life.  This  policy  has,  however, 
been  coupled  with  another  wholly  incompatible  with  its 
success.  Professing  a  desire  to  civilize  and  settle  them. 


163 

we  have  at  the  same  time  lost  no  opportunity  to  purchase 
their  lands,  and  thrust  them  farther  into  the  wilderness. 
By  this  means,  they  have  not  only  been  kept  in  a  wander 
ing  state,  but  been  led  to  look  upon  us  as  unjust  and  in 
different  to  their  fate.  Thus,  though  lavish  in  expenditures 
upon  the  subject,  government  has  constantly  defeated  its 
own  policy  ;  and  the  Indians,  in  general,  receding  farther 
and  farther  to  the  west,  have  retained  their  savage  habits. 
A  portion,  however,  of  the  southern  tribes,  having  mingled 
much  with  the  whites,  and  made  some  progress  in  the  arts 
of  civilized  life,  have  lately  attempted  to  erect  an  inde 
pendent  government  within  the  limits  of  Georgia  and  Ala 
bama.  These  states,  claiming  to  be  the  only  sovereigns 
within  their  territories,  extended  thesir  laws  over  the  In 
dians;  which  induced  the  latter  to  call  upon  the  United 
States  for  protection. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  question  presented  was, 
whether  the  general  government  had  a  right  to  sustain 
those  people  in  their  pretensions.  The  constitution  de 
clares,  that  "  no  new  state  shall  be  formed  or  erected 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  state,"  without  the 
consent  of  its  legislature.  If  the  general  government  is 
not  permitted  to  tolerate  the  erection  of  a  confederate 
state  within  the  territory  of  one  of  the  members  of  this 
Union,  against  her  consent,  much  less  could  it  allow  a 
foreign  and  independent  government  to  establish  itself 
there.  Georgia  became  a  member  of  the  confederacy 
which  eventuated  in  our  federal  union,  as  a  sovereign 
state,  always  asserting  her  claim  to  certain  limits;  which 
having  been  originally  denned  in  her  colonial  charter,  and 
subsequently  recognized  in  the  treaty  of  peace,  she  has 
ever  since  continued  to  enjoy,  except  as  they  have  been 
circumscribed  by  her  own  voluntary  transfer  of  a  portion 
of  her  territory  to  the  United  States,  in  the  articles  of 
cession  of  1802.  Alabama  was  admitted  into  the  Union 
on  the  same  footing  with  the  original  states,  with  boun 
daries  which  were  prescribed  by  Congress.  There  is  no 
constitutional,  conventional,  or  legal  provision,  which  al 
lows  them  less  power  over  the  Indians  within  their  bor 
ders,  than  is  possessed  by  Maine  or  New  York.  Would 
the  people  of  Maine  permit  the  Penobscot  tribe  to  erect 


164  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

an  independent  government  within  their  state  ?  and  unless 
they  did,  would  it  not  be  the  duty  of  the  general  govern 
ment  to  support  them  in  resisting  such  a  measure?  Would 
the  people  of  New  York  permit  each  remnant  of  the  Six 
Nations  within  her  borders,  to  declare  itself  an  independ 
ent  people  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States? 
Could  the  Indians  establish  a  separate  republic  in  each  of 
their  reservations  in  Ohio?  and  if  they  were  so  disposed, 
would  it  be  the  duty  of  this  government  to  protect  them 
in  the  attempt  ?  If  the  principle  involved  in  the  obvious 
answer  to  these  questions  be  abandoned,  it  will  follow  that 
the  objects  of  this  government  are  reversed,  and  that  it 
has  become  a  part  of  its  duty  to  aid  in  destroying  the  states 
which  it  was  established  to  protect. 

Actuated  by  this  view  of  the  subject,  I  informed  the 
Indians  inhabiting  parts  of  Georgia  and  Alabama,  that 
their  attempt  to  establish  an  independent  government  would 
not  be  countenanced  by  the  executive  of  the  United  States, 
and  advised  them  to  emigrate  beyond  the  Mississippi,  or 
submit  to  the  laws  of  those  states. 

Our  conduct  towards  these  people  is  deeply  interesting 
to  our  national  character.  Their  present  condition,  con 
trasted  with  what  they  once  were,  makes  a  most  powerful 
appeal  to  our  sympathies.  Our  ancestors  found  them  the 
uncontrolled  possessors  of  these  vast  regions.  By  per 
suasion  and  force  they  have  been  made  to  retire  from 
river  to  river,  and  from  mountain  to  mountain,  until  some 
of  the  tribes  have  become  extinct,  and  others  have  left  but 
remnants,  to  preserve,  for  a  while,  their  once  terrible 
names.  Surrounded  by  the  whites,  with  their  arts  of  civ 
ilization,  which,  by  destroying  the  resources  of  the  savage, 
doom  him  to  weakness  and  decay,  the  fate  of  the  Mohe- 
gan,  the  Narraganset,  and  the  Delaware,  is  fast  overtaking 
the  Choctaw,  the  Cherokee,  and  the  Creek.  That  this 
fate  surely  awaits  them  if  they  remain  within  the  limits 
of  the  states,  does  not  admit  of  a  doubt.  Humanity  and 
national  honor  demand  that  every  effort  should  be  made 
to  avert  so  great  a  calamity.  It  is  too  late  to  inquire 
whether  it  was  just  in  the  United  States  to  include  them 
and  their  territory  within  the  bounds  of  new  states  whose 
limits  they  could  control.  That  step  cannot  be  retraced. 


165 

A  state  cannot  be  dismembered  by  Congress,  or  restricted 
in  the  exercise  of  her  constitutional  power.  But  the  peo 
ple  of  those  states,  and  of  every  state,  actuated  by  feelings 
of  justice  and  a  regard  for  our  national  honor,  submit  to 
you  the  interesting  question,  whether  something  cannot  be 
done,  consistently  with  the  rights  of  the  states,  to  preserve 
this  much  injured  race. 

As  a  means  of  effecting  this  end,  I  suggest  for  your 
consideration  the  propriety  of  setting  apart  an  ample  dis 
trict  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  without  the  limits  of 
any  state  or  territory  now  formed,  to  be  guarantied  to  the 
Indian  tribes,  as  long  as  they  shall  occupy  it ;  each  tribe 
having  a  distinct  control  over  the  portion  designated  for 
its  use.  There  they  may  be  secured  in  the  enjoyment  of 
governments  of  their  own  choice,  subject  to  no  other  con 
trol  from  the  United  States  than  such  as  may  be  necessary 
to  preserve  peace  on  the  frontier,  and  between  the  several 
tribes.  There  the  benevolent  may  endeavor  to  teach  them 
the  arts  of  civilization;  and,  by  promoting  union  and  har 
mony  among  them,  to  raise  up  an  interesting  common 
wealth,  destined  to  perpetuate  the  race,  and  to  attest  the 
humanity  arid  justice  of  this  government. 

This  emigration  should  be  voluntary,  for  it  would  be 
as  cruel  as  unjust  to  compel  the  aborigines  to  abandon 
the  graves  of  their  fathers,  and  seek  a  home  in  a  distant 
land.  But  they  should  be  distinctly  informed  that,  if 
they  remain  within  the  limits  of  the  states,  they  must  be 
subject  to  their  laws.  In  return  for  their  obedience  as 
individuals,  they  will,  without  doubt,  be  protected  in  the 
enjoyment  of  those  possessions  which  they  have  improved 
by  their  industry.  But  it  seems  to  me  visionary  to  sup 
pose,  that,  in  this  state  of  things,  claims  can  be  allowed 
on  tracts  of  country  on  which  they  have  neither  dwelt 
nor  made  improvements,  merely  because  they  have  seen 
them  from  the  mountain,  or  passed  them  in  the  chase. 
Submitting  to  the  laws  of  the  states,  and  receiving,  like 
other  citizens,  protection  in  their  persons  and  property, 
they  will  ere  long  become  merged  in  the  mass  of  our 
population. 

The  accompanying  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
will  make  you  acquainted  with  the  condition  and  useful 


166  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

employment  of  that  branch  of  our  service  during  the  pres 
ent  year.  Constituting,  as  it  does,  the  best  standing  se 
curity  of  this  country  against  foreign  aggression,  it  claims 
the  especial  attention  of  government.  In  this  spirit,  the 
measures  which,  since  the  termination  of  the  last  war, 
have  been  in  operation  for  its  gradual  enlargement,  were 
adopted,  and  it  should  continue  to  be  cherished  as  the 
offspring  of  our  national  experience.  It  will  be  seen,  how 
ever,  that,  notwithstanding  the  great  solicitude  which  has 
been  manifested  for  the  perfect  organization  of  this  arm, 
and  the  liberality  of  the  appropriations  which  that  solici 
tude  has  suggested,  this  object  has,  in  many  important 
respects,  not  been  secured. 

In  time  of  peace  we  have  need  of  no  more  ships  of  war 
than  are  requisite  to  the  protection  of  our  commerce. 
Those  not  wanted  for  this  object,  must  lie  in  the  har 
bors,  where,  without  proper  covering,  they  rapidly  decay ; 
and,  even  under  the  best  precautions  for  their  preserva 
tion,  must  soon  become  useless.  Such  is  already  the 
case  with  many  of  our  finest  vessels ;  which,  though  un 
finished,  will  now  require  immense  sums  of  money  to  be 
restored  to  the  condition  in  which  they  were  when  com 
mitted  to  their  proper  element.  On  this  subject  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  our  best  policy  would  be  to  discon 
tinue  the  building  of  the  first  and  second  class,  and  look 
rather  to  the  possession  of  ample  materials,  prepared  for 
the  emergencies  of  war,  than  to  the  number  of  vessels 
which  we  can  float  in  a  season  of  peace,  as  an  index  of 
our  naval  power.  Judicious  deposits  in  the  navy-yards, 
of  timber  and  other  materials,  fashioned  under  the  hands 
of  skilful  workmen,  and  fitted  for  prompt  application  to 
their  various  purposes,  would  enable  us,  at  all  times,  to 
construct  vessels  as  fast  as  they  can  be  manned;  and 
save  the  heavy  expense  of  repairs,  except  to  such  vessels 
as  must  be  employed  in  guarding  our  commerce.  The 
proper  points  for  the  establishment  of  these  yards  are 
indicated  with  so  much  force  in  the  report  of  the  Navy 
Board,  that,  in  recommending  it  to  your  attention,  I  deem 
it  unnecessary  to  do  more  than  express  my  hearty  concur 
rence  in  their  views.  The  yard  in  this  district,  being 
already  furnished  with  most  of  the  machinery  necessary 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  167 

for  ship-building,  will  be  competent  to  the  supply  of  the 
two  selected  by  the  board  as  the  best  for  the  concentra 
tion  of  materials;  and  from  the  facility  and  certainty  of 
communication  between  them,  it  will  be  useless  to  incur, 
at  those  depots,  the  expense  of  similar  machinery,  espe 
cially  that  used  in  preparing  the  usual  metallic  and  wooden 
furniture  of  vessels. 

Another  improvement  would  be  effected  by  dispensing 
altogether  with  the  Navy  Board,  as  now  constituted,  and 
substituting  in  its  stead  bureaus  similar  to  those  already 
existing  in  the  War  Department.  Each  member  of  the 
board,  transferred  to  the  head  of  a  separate  bureau  charged 
with  specific  duties,  would  feel,  in  its  highest  degree,  that 
wholesome  responsibility  which  cannot  be  divided  without 
a  far  more  proportionate  diminution  of  its  force.  Their 
valuable  services  would  become  still  more  so  when  sepa- 
i  ately  appropriated  to  distinct  portions  of  the  great  inter 
ests  of  the  navy  ;  to  the  prosperity  of  which  each  would 
be  impelled  to  devote  himself  by  the  strongest  motives. 
Under  such  an  arrangement,  every  branch  of  this  im 
portant  service  would  assume  a  more  simple  and  precise 
character;  its  efficiency  would  be  increased,  and  scru 
pulous  economy  in  the  expenditure  of  public  money  pro 
moted. 

I  would  also  recommend  that  the  marine  corps  be 
merged  in  the  artillery  or  infantry,  as  the  best  mode  of 
curing  the  many  defects  of  its  organization.  But  little 
exceeding  in  number  any  of  the  regiments  of  infantry, 
that  corps  has,  besides  its  lieutenant-colonel  commandant, 
five  brevet  lieutenant-colonels,  who  receive  the  full  pay 
and  emoluments  of  their  brevet  rank,  without  rendering 
proportionate  service.  Details  for  marine  service  could  as 
well  be  made  from  the  artillery  or  infantry  —  there  being 
no  peculiar  training  requisite  for  it. 

With  these  improvements,  and  such  others  as  zealous 
watchfulness  and  mature  consideration  may  suggest,  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that,  under  an  energetic  administration 
of  its  affairs,  the  navy  may  soon  be  made  every  thing  that 
the  nation  wishes  it  to  be.  Its  efficiency  in  the  suppres 
sion  of  piracy  in  the  West  India  seas,  and  wherever  its 
squadrons  have  been  employed  in  securing  the  interests 


168  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

of  the  country,  will  appear  from  the  report  of  the  secre 
tary,  to  which  I  refer  you  for  other  interesting  details. 
Among  these  I  would  bespeak  the  attention  of  Congress 
for  the  views  presented  in  relation  to  the  inequality  be 
tween  the  army  and  navy  as  to  the  pay  of  officers.  No 
such  inequality  should  prevail  between  these  brave  defend 
ers  of  their  country  ;  and  where  it  does  exist,  it  is  submitted 
to  Congress  whether  it  ought  not  to  be  rectified. 

The  report  of  the  Postmaster-general  is  referred  to  as 
exhibiting  a  highly  satisfactory  administration  of  that  de 
partment.  Abuses  have  been  reformed  ;  increased  expe 
dition  in  the  transportation  of  the  mail  secured  ;  and  its 
revenue  much  improved.  In  a  political  point  of  view, 
this  department  is  chiefly  important  as  affording  the  means 
of  diffusing  knowledge.  It  is  to  the  body  politic  what  the 
veins  and  arteries  are  to  the  natural  —  conveying  rapidly 
and  regularly,  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  system,  correct 
information  of  the  operations  of  the  government,  and 
bringing  back  to  it  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  the  people. 
Through  its  agency,  we  have  secured  to  ourselves  the  full 
enjoyment  of  the  blessings  of  a  free  press. 

In  this  general  survey  of  our  affairs,  a  subject  of  high 
importance  presents  itself  in  the  present  organization  of 
the  judiciary.  A  uniform  operation  of  the  federal  govern 
ment  in  the  different  states  is  certainly  desirable ;  and 
existing,  as  they  do  in  the  Union,  on  the  basis  of  perfect 
equality,  each  state  has  a  right  to  expect  that  the  benefits 
conferred  on  the  citizens  of  others  should  be  extended  to 
hers.  The  judicial  system  of  the  United  States  exists  in 
all  its  efficiency  in  only  fifteen  members  of  the  Union ;  to 
three  others,  the  circuit  courts,  which  constitute  an  im 
portant  part  of  that  system,  have  been  imperfectly  extend 
ed  ;  and  to  the  remaining  six,  altogether  denied.  The 
effect  has  been  to  withhold  from  the  inhabitants  of 
the  latter  the  advantages  afforded  (by  the  supreme 
court)  to  their  fellow-citizens  in  other  states,  in  the 
whole  extent  of  the  criminal,  and  much  of  the  civil 
authority  of  the  federal  judiciary.  That  this  state  of 
things  ought  to  be  remedied,  if  it  can  be  done  consistently 
with  the  public  welfare,  is  not  to  be  doubted  ;  neither  is 
it  to  be  disguised  that  the  organization  of  our  judicial 


JACKSON'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  169 

system  is  at  once  a  difficult  and  delicate  task.  To  extend 
the  circuit  courts  equally  throughout  the  different  parts 
of  the  Union,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  avoid  such  a  mul 
tiplication  of  members  as  would  encumber  the  supreme 
appellate  tribunal,  is  the  object  desired.  Perhaps  it  might 
be  accomplished  by  dividing  the  circuit  judges  into  two 
classes,  and  providing  that  the  supreme  court  should  be 
held  by  those  classes  alternately  —  the  chief  justice  always 
presiding. 

If  an  extension  of  the  circuit  court  system  to  those 
states  which  do  not  now  enjoy  its  benefits  should  be  de 
termined  upon,  it  would  of  course  be  necessary  to  revise 
the  present  arrangements  of  the  circuits ;  and  even  if  that 
system  should  not  be  enlarged,  such  a  revision  is  recom 
mended. 

A  provision  for  taking  the  census  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  will,  to  insure  the  completion  of  that  work 
within  a  convenient  time,  claim  the  early  attention  of 
Congress. 

The  great  and  constant  increase  of  business  in  the  De 
partment  of  State  forced  itself,  at  an  ear]y  period,  upon 
the  attention  of  the  executive.  Thirteen  years  ago,  it  was, 
in  Mr.  Madison's  last  message  to  Congress,  made  the  sub 
ject  of  an  earnest  recommendation,  which  has  been  re 
peated  by  both  of  his  successors ;  and  my  comparatively 
limited  experience  has  satisfied  me  of  its  justness.  It  has 
arisen  from  many  causes,  not  the  least  of  which  is,  the 
large  addition  which  has  been  made  to  the  family  of 
independent  nations,  and  the  proportionate  extension  of 
our  foreign  relations.  The  remedy  proposed  was  the  es 
tablishment  of  a  Home  Department  —  a  measure  which 
does  not  appear  to  have  met  the  views  of  Congress,  on 
account  of  its  supposed  tendency  to  increase  gradually, 
and  imperceptibly,  the  already  too  strong  bias  of  the  fed 
eral  system  towards  the  exercise  of  authority  not  delegated 
to  it.  I  am  not,  therefore,  disposed  to  revive  the  recom 
mendation  ;  but  am  not  the  less  impressed  with  the  impor 
tance  of  so  organizing  that  department,  that  its  secretary 
may  devote  more  of  his  time  to  our  foreign  relations. 
Clearly  satisfied  that  the  public  good  would  be  promoted 
15 


170  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

by  some  suitable  provision  on  the  subject,  I  respectfully 
invite  your  attention  to  it. 

The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  expires 
in  1836,  and  its  stockholders  will  most  probably  apply  for 
a  renewal  of  their  privileges.  In  order  to  avoid  the  evils 
resulting  from  precipitancy  in  a  measure  involving  such 
important  principles,  and  such  deep  pecuniary  interests, 
I  feel  that  I  cannot,  in  justice  to  the  parties  interested, 
too  soon  present  it  to  the  deliberate  consideration  of  the 
legislature  and  the  people.  Both  the  constitutionality  and 
the  expediency  of  the  law  creating  this  bank  are  well 
questioned  by  a  large  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens ;  and 
it  must  be  admitted  by  all,  that  it  has  failed  in  the  great 
end  of  establishing  a  uniform  and  sound  currency. 

Under  these  circumstances,  if  such  an  institution  is 
deemed  essential  to  the  fiscal  operations  of  the  govern 
ment,  I  submit  to  the  wisdom  of  the  legislature  whether 
a  national  one,  founded  upon  the  credit  of  the  government 
and  its  revenues,  might  not  be  devised,  which  would  avoid 
all  constitutional  difficulties,  and,  at  the  same  time,  secure 
all  the  advantages  to  the  government  and  country  that  were 
expected  to  result  from  the  present  bank. 

I  cannot  close  this  communication  without  bringing  to 
your  view  the  just  claim  of  the  representatives  of  Com 
modore  Decatur,  his  officers  and  crew,  arising  from  the 
recapture  of  the  frigate  Philadelphia,  under  the  heavy 
batteries  of  Tripoli.  Although  sensible,  as  a  general  rule, 
of  the  impropriety  of  executive  interference  under  a  gov 
ernment  like  ours,  where  every  individual  enjoys  the  right 
of  directly  petitioning  Congress,  yet,  viewing  this  case  as 
one  of  very  peculiar  character,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  rec 
ommend  it  to  your  favorable  consideration.  Besides  the 
justice  of  this  claim,  as  corresponding  to  those  which  have 
been  since  recognized  and  satisfied,  it  is  the  fruit  of  a 
deed  of  patriotic  and  chivalrous  daring,  which  infused  life 
and  confidence  into  our  infant  navy,  and  contributed,  as 
much  as  any  exploit  in  its  history,  to  elevate  our  national 
character.  Public  gratitude,  therefore,  stamps  her  seal 
upon  it;  and  the  meed  should  not  be  withheld  which 
may  hereafter  operate  as  a  stimulus  to  our  gallant  tars. 


171 

I  now  commend  you,  fellow-citizens,  to  the  guidance 
of  Almighty  God,  with  a  full  reliance  on  his  merciful 
Providence  for  the  maintenance  of  our  free  institutions  ; 
and  with  an  earnest  supplication,  that  whatever  errors  it 
may  be  my  lot  to  commit,  in  discharging  the  arduous 
duties  which  have  devolved  on  me,  will  find  a  remedy  in 
the  harmony  and  wisdom  of  your  counsels. 


JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS. 

Felloie-Oitizens  : 

BEING  about  to  retire  finally  from  public  life,  I  beg  leave 
to  offer  you  my  grateful  thanks  for  the  many  proofs  of 
kindness  and  confidence  which  I  have  received  at  your 
hands.  It  has  been  my  fortune,  in  the  discharge  of  public 
duties,  civil  and  military,  frequently  to  have  found  myself 
in  difficult  and  trying  situations,  where  prompt  decision 
and  energetic  action  were  necessary,  and  where  the  in 
terests  of  the  country  required  that  high  responsibilities 
should  be  fearlessly  encountered  ;  and  it  is  with  the  deep 
est  emotions  of  gratitude  that  I  acknowledge  the  continued 
and  unbroken  confidence  with  which  you  have  sustained 
me  in  every  trial.  My  public  life  has  been  a  long  one,  and 
I  cannot  hope  that  it  has  at  all  times  been  free  from  errors. 
But  I  have  the  consolation  of  knowing  that,  if  mistakes 
have  been  committed,  they  have  not  seriously  injured  the 
country  I  so  anxiously  endeavored  to  serve;  and  at  the 
moment  when  I  surrender  my  last  public  trust,  I  leave  this 
great  people  prosperous  and  happy  ;  in  the  full  enjoyment 
of  liberty  and  peace,  and  honored  and  respected  by  every 
nation  of  the  world. 

If  my  humble  efforts  have,  in  any  degree,  contributed 
to  preserve  to  you  these  blessings,  I  have  been  more  than 
rewarded  by  the  honor  you  have  heaped  upon  me ;  and, 
above  all,  by  the  generous  confidence  with  which  you  have 
supported  me  in  every  peril,  and  with  which  you  have 
continued  to  animate  and  cheer  my  path  to  the  closing 
hour  of  my  political  life.  The  time  has  now  come,  when 


172  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

advanced  age  and  a  broken  frame  warn  me  to  retire  from 
public  concerns;  but  the  recollection  of  the  many  favors 
you  have  bestowed  upon  me  is  engraven  upon  my  heart, 
and  I  have  felt  that  J  could  not  part  from  your  service 
without  making  this  public  acknowledgment  of  the  grati 
tude  I  owe  you.  And  if  I  use  the  occasion  to  offer  to  you 
the  counsels  of  age  and  experience,  you  will,  I  trust,  re 
ceive  them  with  the  same  indulgent  kindness  which  you 
have  so  often  extended  to  me  ;  and  will,  at  least,  see  in 
them  an  earnest  desire  to  perpetuate,  in  this  favored  land, 
the  blessings  of  liberty  and  equal  laws. 

We  have  now  lived  almost  fifty  years  under  the  consti 
tution  framed  by  the  sages  and  patriots  of  the  revolution. 
The  conflicts  in  which  the  nations  of  Europe  were  en 
gaged  during  a  great  part  of  this  period,  the  spirit  in 
which  they  waged  war  with  each  other,  and  our  intimate 
commercial  connections  with  every  part  of  the  civilized 
world,  rendered  it  a  time  of  much  difficulty  for  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States.  We  have  had  our  seasons 
of  peace  and  of  war,  with  all  the  evils  which  precede  or 
follow  a  state  of  hostility  with  powerful  nations.  We  en 
countered  these  trials  with  our  constitution  yet  in  its  in 
fancy,  and  under  the  disadvantages  which  a  new  and 
untried  government  must  always  feel  when  it  is  called  to 
put  forth  its  whole  strength,  without  the  lights  of  experi 
ence  to  guide  it,  or  the  weight  of  precedent  to  justify  its 
measures.  But  we  have  passed  triumphantly  through  all 
these  difficulties.  Our  constitution  is  no  longer  a  doubt* 
ful  experiment ;  and  at  the  end  of  nearly  half  a  century, 
we  find  that  it  has  preserved  unimpaired  the  liberties  of 
the  people,  secured  the  rights  of  property,  and  that  our 
country  has  improved,  and  is  flourishing  beyond  any  for 
mer  example  in  the  history  of  nations. 

In  our  domestic  concerns,  there  is  every  thing  to  en 
courage  us ;  and  if  you  are  true  to  yourselves,  nothing 
can  impede  your  march  to  the  highest  point  of  national 
prosperity.  The  states  which  had  so  long  been  retarded 
in  their  improvement,  by  the  Indian  tribes  residing  in  the 
midst  of  them,  are  at  length  relieved  from  the  evil ;  and 
this  unhappy  race  —  the  original  dwellers  in  our  land  — 
are  now  placed  in  a  situation  where  we  may  well  hope 


173 

that  they  will  share  in  the  blessings  of  civilization,  and  be 
saved  from  that  degradation  and  destruction  to  which  they 
were  rapidly  hastening  while  they  remained  in  the  states ; 
and  while  the  safety  and  comfort  of  our  own  citizens  have 
been  greatly  promoted  by  their  removal,  the  philanthropist 
will  rejoice  that  the  remnant  of  that  ill-fated  race  has  been 
at  length  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  injury  or  oppression, 
and  that  the  paternal  care  of  the  general  government  will 
hereafter  watch  over  them  and  protect  them. 

If  we  turn  to  our  relations  with  foreign  powers,  we  find 
our  condition  equally  gratifying.  Actuated  by  the  sincere 
desire  to  do  justice  to  every  nation,  and  to  preserve  the 
blessing  of  peace,  our  intercourse  with  them  has  been 
conducted,  on  the  part  of  this  government,  in  the  spirit  of 
frankness,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  saying  that  it  has  gener 
ally  been  met  in  a  corresponding  temper.  Difficulties  of 
old  standing  have  been  surmounted  by  friendly  discussion 
and  the  mutual  desire  to  be  just ;  and  the  claims  of  our 
citizens,  which  had  been  long  withheld,  have  at  length 
been  acknowledged  and  adjusted,  and  satisfactory  arrange 
ments  made  for  their  final  payment ;  and  with  a  limited, 
and,  I  trust,  a  temporary  exception,  our  relations  with  every 
foreign  power  are  now  of  the  most  friendly  character,  our 
commerce  continually  expanding,  and  our  flag  respected  in 
every  quarter  of  the  world. 

These  cheering  and  grateful  prospects,  and  these  multi 
plied  favors,  we  owe,  under  Providence,  to  the  adoption  of 
the  federal  constitution.  It  is  no  longer  a  question  whether 
this  great  country  can  remain  happily  united,  and  flourish 
under  our  present  form  of  government.  Experience,  the 
unerring  test  of  all  human  undertakings,  has  shown  the 
wisdom  and  foresight  of  those  who  framed  it,  and  has 
proved,  that  in  the  union  of  these  states  there  is  a  sure 
foundation  for  the  brightest  hopes  of  freedom,  and  for  the 
happiness  of  the  people.  At  every  hazard,  and  by  every 
sacrifice,  this  union  must  be  preserved. 

The  necessity  of  watching  with  jealous  anxiety  for  the 
preservation  of  the  union,  was  earnestly  pressed  upon  his 
fellow-citizens  by  the  father  of  his  country,  in  his  farewell 
address.  He  has  there  told  us,  that  "while  experience 
shall  not  have  demonstrated  its  impracticability,  there  will 
15* 


174  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

always  be  reason  to  distrust  the  patriotism  of  those  who,  in 
any  quarter,  may  endeavor  to  weaken  its  bonds ; "  and  he 
has  cautioned  us  in  the  strongest  terms  against  the  forma 
tion  of  parties,  on  geographical  discriminations,  as  one  of 
the  means  which  might  disturb  our  union,  and  to  which 
designing  men  would  be  likely  to  resort. 

The  lessons  contained  in  this  invaluable  legacy  of 
Washington  to  his  countrymen,  should  be  cherished  in  the 
heart  of  every  citizen  to  the  latest  generation  ;  and,  perhaps, 
at  no  period  of  time  could  they  be  more  usefully  remem 
bered  than  at  the  present  moment.  For  when  we  look 
upon  the  scenes  that  are  passing  around  us,  and  dwell 
upon  the  pages  of  his  parting  address,  his  paternal  counsels 
would  seem  to  be  not  merely  the  offspring  of  wisdom  and 
foresight,  but  the  voice  of  prophecy  foretelling  events,  and 
warning  us  of  the  evil  to  come.  Forty  years  have  passed 
since  that  imperishable  document  was  given  to  his  country 
men.  The  federal  constitution  was  then  regarded  by  him 
as  an  experiment,  and  he  so  speaks  of  it  in  his  address ; 
but  an  experiment  upon  the  success  of  which  the  best 
iiopes  of  his  country  depended,  and  we  all  know  that  he 
was  prepared  to  lay  down  his  life,  if  necessary,  to  secure 
to  it  a  full  and  fair  trial.  The  trial  has  been  made.  It 
lias  succeeded  beyond  the  proudest  hopes  of  those  who 
iframed  it.  Every  quarter  of  this  widely-extended  nation 
has  felt  its  blessings,  and  shared  in  the  general  prosperity 
produced  by  its  adoption.  But  amid  this  general  prosperity 
and  splendid  success,  the  dangers  of  which  he  warned  us 
are  becoming  every  day  more  evident,  and  the  signs  of  evil 
are  sufficiently  apparent  to  awaken  the  deepest  anxiety  in 
the  bosom  of  the  patriot.  We  behold  systematic  efforts 
publicly  made  to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord  between  different 
parts  of  the  United  States,  and  to  place  party  divisions 
directly  upon  geographical  distinctions ;  to  excite  the  south 
against  the  north,  and  the  north  against  the  south,  and  to 
force  into  the  controversy  the  most  delicate  and  exciting 
topics,  upon  which  it  is  impossible  that  a  large  portion  of 
the  Union  can  ever  speak  without  strong  emotions.  Ap 
peals,  too,  are  constantly  made  to  sectional  interests,  in  order 
to  influence  the  election  of  the  chief  magistrate,  as  if  it 
were  desired  that  he  should  favor  a  particular  quarter  of  the 


175 

country,  instead  of  fulfilling  the  duties  of  his  station  with 
impartial  justice  to  all ;  and  the  possible  dissolution  of  the 
Union  has  at  length  become  an  ordinary  and  familiar  sub 
ject  of  discussion.  Has  the  warning  voice  of  Washington 
been  forgotten  ?  or  have  designs  already  been  formed  to 
sever  the  Union  ?  Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  I  impute  to 
all  of  those  who  have  taken  an  active  part  in  these  unwise 
and  unprofitable  discussions  a  want  of  patriotism  or  of 
public  virtue.  The  honorable  feeling  of  state  pride  and 
local  attachments  find  a  place  in  the  bosoms  of  the  most 
enlightened  and  pure.  But  while  such  men  are  conscious 
of  their  own  integrity  and  honesty  of  purpose,  they  ought 
never  to  forget  that  the  citizens  of  other  states  are  their 
political  brethren ;  and  that,  however  mistaken  they  may 
be  in  their  views,  the  great  body  of  them  are  equally  honest 
and  upright  with  themselves.  Mutual  suspicions  and  re 
proaches  may  in  time  create  mutual  hostility,  and  artful 
and  designing  men  will  always  be  found,  who  are  ready  to 
foment  these  fatal  divisions,  and  to  inflame  the  natural 
jealousies  of  different  sections  of  the  country.  The  his 
tory  of  the  world  is  full  of  such  examples,  and  especially 
the  history  of  republics. 

What  have  you  to  gain  by  division  and  dissension  1 
Delude  not  yourselves  with  the  belief  that  a  breach  once 
made  may  be  afterwards  repaired.  If  the  Union  is  once 
severed,  the  line  of  separation  will  grow  wider  and  wider, 
and  the  controversies  which  are  now  debated  and  settled 
in  the  halls  of  legislation,  will  then  be  tried  in  fields  of 
battle,  and  be  determined  by  the  sword.  Neither  should 
you  deceive  yourselves  with  the  hope,  that  the  first  line  of 
separation  would  be  the  permanent  one,  and  that  nothing 
but  harmony  and  concord  would  be  found  in  the  new 
associations,  formed  upon  the  dissolution  of  this  Union. 
Local  interests  would  still  be  found  there,  and  unchastened 
ambition.  And  if  the  recollection  of  common  dangers,  in 
which  the  people  of  these  United  States  stood  side  by  side 
against  the  common  foe ;  the  memory  of  victories  won  by 
their  united  valor ;  the  prosperity  and  happiness  they  have 
enjoyed  under  the  present  constitution ;  the  proud  name 
they  bear  as  citizens  of  this  great  republic;  —  if  these  rec 
ollections  and  proofs  of  common  interest  are  not  strong 


176  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

enough  to  bind  us  together  as  one  people,  what  tie  will 
hold  this  Union  dissevered  ?  The  first  line  of  separation 
would  not  last  for  a  single  generation;  new  fragments 
would  be  torn  off;  new  leaders  would  spring  up ;  and  this 
great  and  glorious  republic  would  soon  be  broken  into  a 
multitude  of  petty  states ;  armed  for  mutual  aggressions  ; 
loaded  with  taxes  to  pay  armies  and  leaders ;  seeking  aid 
against  each  other  from  foreign  powers ;  insulted  and 
trampled  upon  by  the  nations  of  Europe,  until,  harassed 
with  conflicts,  and  humbled  and  debased  in  spirit,  they 
would  be  ready  to  submit  to  the  absolute  dominion  of  any 
military  adventurer,  and  to  surrender  their  liberty  for  the 
sake  of  repose.  It  is  impossible  to  look  on  the  conse 
quences  that  would  inevitably  follow  the  destruction  of 
this  government,  and  not  feel  indignant  when  we  hear 
cold  calculations  about  the  value  of  the  Union,  and  have 
so  constantly  before  us  a  line  of  conduct  so  well  calculated 
to  weaken  its  ties. 

There  is  too  much  at  stake  to  allow  pride  or  passion  to 
influence  your  decision.  Never  for  a  moment  believe  that 
the  great  body  of  the  citizens  of  any  state  or  states  can  de 
liberately  intend  to  do  wrong.  They  may,  under  the  in 
fluence  of  temporary  excitement  or  misguided  opinions, 
commit  mistakes;  they  may  be  misled  for  a  time  by  the 
suggestions  of  self-interest;  but  in  a  community  so  en 
lightened  and  patriotic  as  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
argument  will  soon  make  them  sensible  of  their  errors ; 
and,  when  convinced,  they  will  be  ready  to  repair  them. 
If  they  have  no  higher  or  better  motives  to  govern  them, 
they  will  at  least  perceive  that  their  own  interest  requires 
them  to  be  just  to  others  as  they  hope  to  receive  justice  at 
their  hands. 

But  in  order  to  maintain  the  Union  unimpaired,  it  is  ab 
solutely  necessary  that  the  laws  passed  by  the  constituted 
authorities  should  be  faithfully  executed  in  every  part 
of  the  country,  and  that  every  good  citizen  should,  at  all 
times,  stand  ready  to  put  down,  with  the  combined  force 
of  the  nation,  every  attempt  at  unlawful  resistance,  under 
whatever  pretext  it  may  be  made,  or  whatever  shape  it  may 
assume.  Unconstitutional  or  oppressive  laws  may,  no  doubt, 
be  passed  by  Congress,  either  from  erroneous  views  or  the 


177 

want  of  due  consideration ;  if  they  are  within  reach  of 
judicial  authority,  the  remedy  is  easy  and  peaceful ;  and  if, 
from  the  character  of  the  law,  it  is  an  abuse  of  power  not 
within  the  control  of  the  judiciary,  then  free  discussion 
and  calm  appeals  to  reason  and  to  the  justice  of  the  people, 
will  not  fail  to  redress  the  wrong.  But  until  the  law  shall 
be  declared  void  by  the  courts,  or  repealed  by  Congress, 
no  individual  or  combination  of  individuals  can  be  justified 
in  forcibly  resisting  its  execution.  It  is  impossible  that 
any  government  can  continue  to  exist  upon  any  other  prin 
ciples.  It  would  cease  to  be  a  government,  and  be  un 
worthy  of  the  name,  if  it  had  not  the  power  to  enforce  the 
execution  of  its  own  laws  within  its  own  sphere  of  action. 

It  is  true  that  cases  may  be  imagined  disclosing  such  a 
settled  purpose  of  usurpation  and  oppression,  on  the  part 
of  the  government,  as  would  justify  an  appeal  to  arms. 
These,  however,  are  extreme  cases,  which  we  have  no 
reason  to  apprehend  in  a  government  where  the  power  is 
in  the  hands  of  a  patriotic  people ;  and  no  citizen  who 
loves  his  country,  would  in  any  case  whatever  resort  to 
forcible  resistance,  unless  he  clearly  saw  that  the  time  had 
come  when  a  freeman  should  prefer  death  to  submission ; 
for  if  such  a  struggle  is  once  begun,  and  the  citizens  of 
one  section  of  the  country  arrayed  in  arms  against  those 
of  another,  in  doubtful  conflict,  let  the  battle  result  as  it 
may,  there  will  be  an  end  of  the  Union,  arid  with  it  an  end 
of  the  hopes  of  freedom.  The  victory  of  the  injured  would 
not  secure  to  them  the  blessings  of  liberty ;  it  would 
avenge  their  wrongs,  but  they  would  themselves  share  in 
the  common  ruin. 

But  the  constitution  cannot  be  maintained,  nor  the  Union 
preserved,  in  opposition  to  public  feeling,  by  the  mere  ex 
ertion  of  the  coercive  powers  confided  to  the  general  gov 
ernment.  The  foundations  must  be  laid  in  the  affections 
of  the  people ;  in  the  security  it  gives  to  life,  liberty,  char 
acter,  and  property,  in  every  quarter  of  the  country,  and  in 
the  fraternal  attachments  which  the  citizens  of  the  several 
states  bear  to  one  another,  as  members  of  one  political 
family,  mutually  contributing  to  promote  the  happiness 
of  each  other.  Hence  the  citizens  of  every  state  should 
studiously  avoid  every  thing  calculated  to  wound  the  sen- 


178  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

sibility  or  offend  the  just  pride  of  the  people  of  other  states; 
and  they  should  frown  upon  any  proceedings  within  their 
own  borders  likely  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  their  polit 
ical  brethren  in  other  portions  of  the  Union.  In  a  country 
so  extensive  as  the  United  States,  and  with  pursuits  so 
varied,  the  internal  regulations  of  the  several  states  must 
frequently  differ  from  one  another  in  important  particulars; 
and  this  difference  is  unavoidably  increased  by  the  varying 
principles  upon  which  the  American  colonies  were  origin 
ally  planted  —  principles  which  had  taken  deep  root  in  their 
social  relations  before  the  revolution,  and  therefore,  of  ne 
cessity,  influencing  their  policy  since  they  became  free  and 
independent  states.  But  each  state  has  the  unquestionable 
right  to  regulate  its  own  internal  concerns  according  to 
its  own  pleasure ;  and  while  it  does  not  interfere  with  the 
rights  of  the  people  of  other  states,  or  the  rights  of  the 
Union,  every  state  must  be  the  sole  judge  of  that  measure 
proper  to  secure  the  safety  of  its  citizens  and  promote 
their  happiness ;  and  all  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  people 
of  other  states  to  cast  odium  upon  their  institutions,  and 
all  measures  calculated  to  disturb  their  rights  of  property, 
or  to  put  in  jeopardy  their  peace  and  internal  tranquillity, 
are  in  direct  opposition  to  the  spirit  in  which  the  Union 
was  formed,  and  must  endanger  its  safety.  Motives  of 
philanthropy  may  be  assigned  for  this  unwarrantable  inter 
ference ;  and  weak  men  may  persuade  themselves  for  a 
moment  that  they  are  laboring  in  the  cause  of  humanity, 
and  asserting  the  rights  of  the  human  race  ;  but  every  one, 
upon  sober  reflection,  will  see  that  nothing  but  mischief 
can  come  from  these  improper  assaults  upon  the  feelings 
and  rights  of  others.  Rest  assured,  that  the  men  found 
busy  in  this  work  of  discord  are  not  worthy  of  your  con 
fidence,  and  deserve  your  strongest  reprobation. 

In  the  legislation  of  Congress,  also,  and  in  every  meas 
ure  of  the  general  govemrrent,  justice  to  every  portion  of 
the  United  States  should  be  faithfully  observed.  No  free 
government  can  stand  without  virtue  in  the  people,  and  a 
lofty  spirit  of  patriotism  ;  and  if  the  sordid  feelings  of  mere 
selfishness  shall  usurp  the  place  which  ought  to  be  filled  by 
public  spirit,  the  legislation  of  Congress  will  soon  be  con 
verted  into  a  scramble  for  personal  and  sectional  advan- 


179 

tages.  Under  our  free  institutions,  the  citizens  in  every 
quarter  of  our  country  are  capable  of  attaining  a  high  de 
gree  of  prosperity  and  happiness,  without  seeking  to  profit 
themselves  at  the  expense  of  others ;  and  every  such  attempt 
must  in  the  end  fail  to  succeed,  for  the  people  in  every  part 
of  the  United  States  are  too  enlightened  not  to  understand 
their  own  rights  and  interests,  and  to  detect  and  defeat 
every  effort  to  gain  undue  advantages  over  them  ;  and  when 
such  designs  are  discovered,  it  naturally  provokes  resent 
ments  which  cannot  be  always  allayed.  Justice,  full  and 
ample  justice,  to  every  portion  of  the  United  States,  should 
be  the  ruling  principle  of  every  freeman,  and  should  guide 
the  deliberations  of  every  public  body,  whether  it  be  state 
or  national. 

It  is  well  known  that  there  have  always  been  those 
among  us  who  wish  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  general 
government ;  and  experience  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
there  is  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  this  government  to 
overstep  the  boundaries  marked  out  for  it  by  the  consti 
tution.  Its  legitimate  authority  is  abundantly  sufficient 
for  all  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  created  ;  and  its  pow 
ers  being  expressly  enumerated,  there  can  be  no  justifi 
cation  for  claiming  any  thing  beyond  them.  Every  at 
tempt  to  exercise  power  beyond  these  limits  should  be 
promptly  and  firmly  opposed.  For  one  evil  example  will 
lead  to  other  measures  still  more  mischievous;  and  if  the 
principle  of  constructive  powers,  or  supposed  advantages, 
or  temporary  circumstances,  shall  ever  be  permitted  to 
justify  the  assumption  of  a  power  not  given  by  the  consti 
tution,  the  general  government  will  before  long  absorb  all 
the  powers  of  legislation,  and  you  will  have,  in  effect,  but 
one  consolidated  government.  From  the  extent  of  our 
country,  its  diversified  interests,  different  pursuits,  and 
different  habits,  it  is  too  obvious  for  argument  that  a  sin 
gle  consolidated  government  would  be  wholly  inadequate 
to  watch  over  and  protect  its  interests ;  and  every  friend 
of  our  free  institutions  should  be  always  prepared  to  main 
tain  unimpaired  and  in  full  vicror  the  rights  and  sover 
eignty  of  the  states,  and  to  confine  the  action  of  the  gen 
eral  government  strictly  to  the  sphere  of  its  appropriate 
duties. 


180  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  one  of  the  powers  conferred  on 
the  federal  government  so  liable  to  abuse  as  the  taxing 
power.  The  most  productive  and  convenient  sources  of 
revenue  were  necessarily  given  to  it,  that  it  might  per 
form  the  important  duties  imposed  upon  it ;  and  the  taxes 
which  it  lays  upon  commerce  being  concealed  from  the 
real  payer  in  the  price  of  the  article,  they  do  not  so  read 
ily  attract  the  attention  of  the  people  as  smaller  sums 
demanded  from  them  directly  by  the  tax-gatherer.  But 
the  tax  imposed  on  goods  enhances  by  so  much  the  price 
of  the  commodity  to  the  consumer  ;  and  as  many  of  these 
duties  are  imposed  on  articles  of  necessity  which  are  daily 
used  by  the  great  body  of  the  people,  the  money  raised 
by  these  imposts  is  drawn  from  their  pockets.  Congress 
has  no  right,  under  the  constitution,  to  take  money  from 
the  people,  unless  it  is  required  to  execute  some  one  of 
the  specific  powers  intrusted  to  the  government ;  and  if 
they  raise  more  than  is  necessary  for  such  purposes,  it  is 
an  abuse  of  the  power  of  taxation,  and  unjust  and  op 
pressive.  It  may,  indeed,  happen  that  the  revenue  will 
sometimes  exceed  the  amount  anticipated  when  the  taxes 
were  laid.  When,  however,  this  is  ascertained,  it  is  easy 
to  reduce  them ;  and,  in  such  a  case,  it  is  unquestionably 
the  duty  of  the  government  to  reduce  them,  for  no  circum 
stances  can  justify  it  in  assuming  a  power  not  given  to  it 
by  the  constitution,  nor  in  taking  away  the  money  of  the 
people  when  it  is  not  needed  for  the  legitimate  wants  of 
the  government. 

Plain  as  these  principles  appear  to  be,  you  will  find  that 
there  is  a  constant  effort  to  induce  the  general  government 
to  go  beyond  the  limits  of  its  taxing  power,  and  to  impose 
unnecessary  burdens  upon  the  people.  Many  powerful 
interests  are  continually  at  work  to  procure  heavy  duties 
on  commerce,  and  to  swell  the  revenue  beyond  the  real 
necessities  of  the  public  service;  and  the  country  has 
already  felt  the  injurious  effects  of  their  combined  in 
fluence.  They  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  tariff  of  duties 
bearing  most  oppressively  on  the  agricultural  and  labor 
ing  classes  of  society,  and  producing  a  revenue  that  could 
not  be  usefully  employed  within  the  range  of  the  powers 
conferred  upon  Congress ;  and,  in  order  to  fasten  upon 


181 

the  people  this  unjust  and  unequal  system  of  taxation, 
extravagant  schemes  of  internal  improvement  were  got  up, 
in  various  quarters,  to  squander  the  money  and  to  pur 
chase  support.  Thus  one  unconstitutional  measure  was 
intended  to  be  upheld  by  another,  and  the  abuse  of  the 
power  of  taxation  was  to  be  maintained  by  usurping  the 
power  of  expending  the  money  in  internal  improvements. 
You  cannot  have  forgotten  the  severe  and  doubtful  strug 
gle  through  which  we  passed,  when  the  executive  depart 
ment  of  the  government,  by  its  veto,  endeavored  to  arrest 
this  prodigal  scheme  of  injustice,  and  to  bring  back  the 
legislation  of  Congress  to  the  boundaries  prescribed  by  the 
constitution.  The  good  sense  and  practical  judgment  of 
the  people,  when  the  subject  was  brought  before  them, 
sustained  the  course  of  the  executive;  and  this  plan  of 
unconstitutional  expenditure  for  the  purposes  of  corrupt 
influence  is,  I  trust,  finally  overthrown. 

The  result  of  this  decision  has  been  felt  in  the  rapid 
extinguishment  of  the  public  debt,  and  the  large  accumu 
lation  of  a  surplus  in  the  treasury,  notwithstanding  the 
tariff  was  reduced,  and  is  now  far  below  the  amount 
originally  contemplated  by  its  advocates.  But,  rely  upon 
it,  the  design  to  collect  an  extravagant  revenue,  and  to 
burden  you  with  taxes  beyond  the  economical  wants  of  the 
government,  is  not  yet  abandoned.  The  various  interests 
which  have  combined  together  to  impose  a  heavy  tariff, 
and  to  produce  an  overflowing  treasury,  are  too  strong, 
and  have  too  much  at  stake,  to  surrender  the  contest. 
The  corporations  and  wealthy  individuals  who  are  engaged 
in  large  manufacturing  establishments,  desire  a  high  tariff 
to  increase  their  gains.  Designing  politicians  will  sup 
port  it  to  conciliate  their  favor,  and  to  obtain  the  means 
of  profuse  expenditure,  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  in 
fluence  in  other  quarters ;  and  since  the  people  have  de 
cided  that  the  federal  government  cannot  be  permitted  to 
employ  its  income  in  internal  improvements,  efforts  will 
be  made  to  seduce  and  mislead  the  citizens  of  the  several 
states  by  holding  out  to  them  the  deceitful  prospect  of 
benefits  to  be  derived  from  a  surplus  revenue  collected  by 
the  general  government,  and  annually  divided  among  the 
states.  And  if,  encouraged  by  these  fallacious  hopes,  the 
16 


182  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

states  should  disregard  the  principles  of  economy  which 
ought  to  characterize  every  republican  government,  and 
should  indulge  in  lavish  expenditures  exceeding  their  re 
sources,  they  will,  before  long,  find  themselves  oppressed 
with  debts  which  they  are  unable  to  pay,  and  the  temp 
tation  will  become  irresistible  to  support  a  high  tariff,  in 
order  to  obtain  a  surplus  distribution.  Do  not  allow  your 
selves,  my  fellow-citizens,  to  be  misled  on  this  subject. 
The  federal  government  cannot  collect  a  surplus  for  such 
purposes,  without  violating  the  principles  of  the  consti 
tution,  and  assuming  powers  which  have  not  been  granted. 
It  is,  moreover,  a  system  of  injustice,  and,  if  persisted  in, 
will  inevitably  lead  to  corruption,  and  must  end  in  ruin. 
The  surplus  revenue  will  be  drawn  from  the  pockets  of 
the  people  —  from  the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  and  the 
laboring  classes  of  society ;  but  who  will  receive  it  when 
distributed  among  the  states,  where  it  is  to  be  disposed  of 
by  leading  politicians  who  have  friends  to  favor,  and  po 
litical  partisans  to  gratify  ?  It  will  certainly  not  be  re 
turned  to  those  who  paid  it,  and  who  have  most  need  of 
it,  and  are  honestly  entitled  to  it.  There  is  but  one  safe 
rule,  and  that  is  to  confine  the  general  government  rigidly 
within  the  sphere  of  its  appropriate  duties.  It  has  no  power 
to  raise  a  revenue,  or  impose  taxes,  except  for  the  pur 
poses  enumerated  in  the  constitution ;  and  if  its  income  is 
found  to  exceed  these  wants,  it  should  be  forthwith  re 
duced,  and  the  burdens  of  the  people  so  far  lightened. 

In  reviewing  the  conflicts  which  have  taken  place  be 
tween  different  interests  in  the  United  States,  and  the 
policy  pursued  since  the  adoption  of  our  present  form  of 
government,  we  find  nothing  that  has  produced  such  deep- 
seated  evil  as  the  course  of  legislation  in  relation  to  the 
currency.  The  constitution  of  the  United  States  un 
questionably  intended  to  secure  the  people  a  circulating 
medium  of  gold  and  silver.  But  the  establishment  of  a 
national  bank  by  Congress,  with  the  privilege  of  issuing 
paper  money  receivable  in  the  payment  of  the  public  dues, 
and  the  unfortunate  course  of  legislation  in  the  several 
states  upon  the  same  subject,  drove  from  general  circu 
lation  the  constitutional  currency,  and  substituted  one  of 
paper  in  its  place. 


183 

It  was  not  easy  for  men  engaged  in  the  ordinary  pursuits 
of  business,  whose  attention  had  not  been  particularly 
drawn  to  the  subject,  to  foresee  all  the  consequences  of 
a  currency  exclusively  of  paper ;  and  we  ought  not,  on 
that  account,  to  be  surprised  at  the  facility  with  which 
laws  were  obtained  to  carry  into  effect  the  paper  system. 
Honest,  and  even  enlightened  men  are  sometimes  misled 
by  the  specious  and  plausible  statements  of  the  designing. 
But  experience  has  now  proved  the  mischiefs  and  dangers 
of  a  paper  currency,  and  it  rests  with  you  to  determine 
whether  the  proper  remedy  shall  be  applied. 

The  paper  system  being  founded  on  public  confidence, 
and  having  of  itself  no  intrinsic  value,  it  is  liable  to  great 
and  sudden  fluctuations,  thereby  rendering  property  in 
secure,  and  the  wages  of  labor  unsteady  and  uncertain. 
The  corporations  which  create  the  paper  money  cannot  be 
relied  upon  to  keep  the  circulating  medium  uniform  in 
amount.  In  times  of  prosperity,  when  confidence  is  high, 
they  are  tempted,  by  the  prospect  of  gain,  or  by  the  influ 
ence  of  those  who  hope  to  profit  by  it,  to  extend  their 
issues  of  paper  beyond  the  bounds  of  discretion  and  the 
reasonable  demands  of  business.  And  when  these  issues 
have  been  pushed  on,  from  day  to  day,  until  public  con 
fidence  is  at  length  shaken,  then  a  reaction  takes  place, 
and  they  immediately  withdraw  the  credits  they  have  given, 
suddenly  curtail  their  issues,  and  produce  an  unexpected 
and  ruinous  contraction  of  the  circulating  medium,  which 
is  felt  by  the  whole  community.  The  banks,  by  this 
means,  save  themselves,  and  the  mischievous  consequences 
of  their  imprudence  or  cupidity  are  visited  upon  the  pub 
lic.  Nor  does  the  evil  stop  here.  These  ebbs  and  flows 
in  the  currency,  and  these  indiscreet  extensions  of  credit, 
naturally  engender  a  spirit  of  speculation  injurious  to  the 
habits  and  character  of  the  people.  We  have  already  seen 
its  effects  in  the  wild  spirit  of  speculation  in  the  public 
lands,  and  various  kinds  of  stock,  which,  within  the  last 
year  or  two,  seized  upon  such  a  multitude  of  our  citizens, 
and  threatened  to  pervade  all  classes  of  society,  and  to 
withdraw  their  attention  from  the  sober  pursuits  of  honest 
industry.  It  is  not  by  encouraging  this  spirit  that  we  shall 


184  THE    AMERICAN     POLITICIAN. 

best  preserve  public  virtue,  and  promote  the  true  interests 
of  our  country.  But  if  your  currency  continues  as  ex 
clusively  paper  as  it  now  is,  it  will  foster  this  eager  desire 
to  amass  wealth  without  labor ;  it  will  multiply  the  num 
ber  of  dependants  on  bank  accommodations  and  bank 
favors ;  the  temptation  to  obtain  money  at  any  sacrifice 
will  become  stronger  and  stronger,  and  inevitably  lead  to 
corruption,  which  will  find  its  way  into  your  public  coun 
cils,  and  destroy,  at  no  distant  day,  the  purity  of  your  gov 
ernment.  Some  of  the  evils  which  arise  from  this  system 
of  paper,  press  with  peculiar  hardship  upon  the  class  of 
society  least  able  to  bear  it.  A  portion  of  this  currency 
frequently  becomes  depreciated  or  worthless,  and  all  of  it 
is  easily  counterfeited,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  require  pe 
culiar  skill  and  much  experience  to  distinguish  the  coun 
terfeit  from  the  genuine  notes. 

These  frauds  are  most  generally  perpetrated  in  the 
smaller  notes,  which  are  used  in  the  daily  transactions  of 
ordinary  business ;  and  the  losses  occasioned  by  them  are 
commonly  thrown  upon  the  laboring  classes  of  society, 
whose  situation  and  pursuits  put  it  out  of  their  power  to 
guard  themselves  from  these  impositions,  and  whose  daily 
wages  are  necessary  for  their  subsistence.  It  is  the  duty 
of  every  government  so  to  regulate  its  currency,  as  to  pro 
tect  this  numerous  class,  as  far  as  practicable,  from  the  im 
positions  of  avarice  and  fraud.  It  is  more  especially  the 
duty  of  the  United  States,  where  the  government  is  em 
phatically  the  government  of  the  people,  and  where  this 
respectable  portion  of  our  citizens  are  so  proudly  distin 
guished  from  the  laboring  classes  of  all  other  nations,  by 
their  independent  spirit,  their  love  of  liberty,  their  intelli 
gence,  and  their  high  tone  of  moral  character.  Their 
industry  in  peace  is  the  source  of  our  wealth ;  and  their 
bravery  in  war  has  covered  us  with  glory;  and  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  will  but  ill  discharge  its 
duties,  if  it  leaves  them  a  prey  to  such  dishonest  imposi 
tions.  Yet-  it  is  evident  that  their  interests  cannot  be 
effectually  protected,  unless  silver  and  gold  are  restored  to 
circulation. 

These  views  alone,  of  the  paper  currency,  are  sufficient 


FAREWELL    ADDRESS.  185 

to  call  for  immediate  reform;  but  there  is  another  con 
sideration  which  should  still  more  strongly  press  it  upon 
your  attention. 

Recent  events  have  proved  that  the  paper  money  sys 
tem  of  this  country  may  be  used  as  an  engine  to  under 
mine  your  free  institutions  ;  and  that  those  who  desire  to 
engross  all  power  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  and  to  govern 
by  corruption  or  force,  are  aware  of  its  power,  and  pre 
pared  to  employ  it.  Your  banks  now  furnish  your  only 
circulating  medium,  and  money  is  plenty  or  scarce  accord 
ing  to  the  quantity  of  notes  issued  by  them.  While  they 
have  capitals  not  greatly  disproportioned  to  each  other, 
they  are  competitors  in  business,  and  no  one  of  them  can 
exercise  dominion  over  the  rest ;  and  although,  in  the 
present  state  of  the  currency,  these  banks  may  and  do 
operate  injuriously  upon  the  habits  of  business,  the  pe 
cuniary  concerns,  and  the  moral  tone  of  society,  yet,  from 
their  number  and  dispersed  situation,  they  cannot  combine 
for  the  purposes  of  political  influence  ;  and  whatever  may 
be  the  dispositions  of  some  of  them,  their  power  of  mis 
chief  must  necessarily  be  confined  to  a  narrow  space,  and 
felt  only  in  their  immediate  neighborhood. 

But  when  the  charter  for  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
was  obtained  from  Congress,  it  perfected  the  schemes  of 
the  paper  system,  and  gave  its  advocates  the  position  they 
have  struggled  to  obtain,  from  the  commencement  of  the 
federal  government  down  to  the  present  hour.  The  im 
mense  capital,  the  peculiar  privileges  bestowed  upon  it, 
enabled  it  to  exercise  despotic  sway  over  the  other  banks 
in  every  part  of  the  country.  From  its  superior  strength, 
it  could  seriously  injure,  if  not  destroy,  the  business  of  any 
one  of  them  which  might  incur  its  resentment ;  and  it 
openly  claimed  for  itself  the  power  of  regulating  the  cur 
rency  throughout  the  United  States.  In  other  words,  it 
asserted  (and  undoubtedly  possessed)  the  power  to  make 
money  plenty  or  scarce,  at  its  pleasure,  at  any  time,  and  in 
any  quarter  of  the  Union,  by  controlling  the  issues  of  other 
banks,  and  permitting  an  expansion,  or  compelling  a  gen 
eral  contraction,  of  the  circulating  medium,  according  to 
its  own  will.  The  other  banking  institutions  were  sensi 
ble  of  its  strength,  and  the»'  soon  generally  became  its 
16* 


186  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

obedient  instruments,  ready,  at  all  times,  to  execute  its 
mandates;  and  with  the  banks  necessarily  went  also  that 
numerous  class  of  persons  in  our  commercial  cities,  who 
depend  altogether  on  bank  credits  for  their  solvency  and 
means  of  business;  and  who  are,  therefore,  obliged,  for 
their  own  safety,  to  propitiate  the  favor  of  the  money 
power  by  distinguished  zeal  and  devotion  in  its  service. 
The  result  of  the  ill-advised  legislation  which  established 
this  great  monopoly  was  to  concentrate  the  whole  moneyed 
power  of  the  Union,  with  its  boundless  means  of  corrup 
tion,  and  its  numerous  dependants,  under  the  direction  and 
command  of  one  acknowledged  head  ;  thus  organizing  this 
particular  interest  as  one  body,  and  securing  to  it  unity 
and  concert  of  action  throughout  the  United  States,  and 
enabling  it  to  bring  forward,  upon  any  occasion,  its  entire 
and  undivided  strength  to  support  or  defeat  any  measure 
of  the  government.  In  the  hands  of  this  formidable 
power,  thus  perfectly  organized,  was  also  placed  unlimited 
dominion  over  the  amount  of  the  circulating  medium, 
giving  it  the  power  to  regulate  the  value  of  property  and 
the  fruits  of  labor  in  every  quarter  of  the  Union;  and  to 
bestow  prosperity,  or  bring  ruin,  upon  any  city  or  section 
of  the  country,  as  might  best  comport  with  its  own  inter 
est  or  policy. 

We  are  not  left  to  conjecture  how  the  moneyed  power, 
thus  organized,  and  with  such  a  weapon  in  its  hands, 
would  be  likely  to  use  it.  The  distress  and  alarm  which 
pervaded  and  agitated  the  whole  country,  when  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  waged  war  upon  the  people,  in  order 
to  compel  them  to  submit  to  its  demands,  cannot  yet 
be  forgotten.  The  ruthless  and  unsparing  temper  with 
which  whole  cities  and  communities  were  oppressed,  in 
dividuals  impoverished  and  ruined,  and  a  scene  of  cheer 
ful  prosperity  suddenly  changed  into  one  of  gloom  and  de 
spondency,  ought  to  be  indelibly  impressed  on  the  memory 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  If  such  was  its  power 
in  a  time  of  peace,  what  would  it  not  have  been  in  a  sea 
son  of  war,  with  an  enemy  at  your  doors?  No  nation  but 
the  freemen  of  the  United  States  could  have  come  out  victo 
rious  from  such  a  contest ;  yet,  if  you  had  not  conquered,  the 
government  would  have  passed  from  the  hands  of  the  many 


JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  187 

to  the  hands  of  the  few ;  and  this  organized  money  power, 
from  its  secret  conclave,  would  have  dictated  the  choice 
of  your  highest  officers,  and  compelled  you  to  make  peace 
or  war,  as  best  suited  their  own  wishes.  The  forms  of 
your  government  might,  for  a  time,  have  remained ;  but  its 
living  spirit  would  have  departed  from  it. 

The  distress  and  sufferings  inflicted  on  the  people  by 
the  bank,  are  some  of  the  fruits  of  that  system  of  policy 
which  is  continually  striving  to  enlarge  the  authority  of 
the  federal  government  beyond  the  limits  fixed  by  the 
constitution.  The  powers  enumerated  in  that  instrument 
do  not  confer  on  Congress  the  right  to  establish  such  a 
corporation  as  the  Bank  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  evil 
consequences  which  followed  may  warn  us  of  the  danger 
of  departing  from  the  true  rule  of  construction,  and  of 
permitting  temporary  circumstances,  or  the  hope  of  better 
promoting  the  public  welfare,  to  influence,  in  any  degree, 
our  decisions  upon  the  extent  of  the  authority  of  the  gen 
eral  government.  Let  us  abide  by  the  constitution  as  it 
is  written,  or  amend  it  in  the  constitutional  mode  if  it  is 
found  defective. 

The  severe  lessons  of  experience  will,  I  doubt  not,  be 
sufficient  to  prevent  Congress  from  again  chartering  such 
a  monopoly,  even  if  the  constitution  did  not  present  an 
insuperable  objection  to  it.  But  you  must  remember,  my 
fellow-citizens,  that  eternal  vigilance  by  the  people  is  the 
price  of  liberty  ;  and  that  you  must  pay  the  price  if  you 
wish  to  secure  the  blessing.  It  behoves  you,  therefore,  to 
be  watchful  in  your  states,  as  well  as  in  the  federal  govern 
ment.  The  power  which  the  moneyed  interest  can  exer 
cise,  when  concentrated  under  a  single  head  and  with  our 
present  system  of  currency,  was  sufficiently  demonstrated 
in  the  struggle  made  by  the  United  States  Bank.  Defeat 
ed  in  the  general  government,  the  same  class  of  intriguers 
and  politicians  will  now  resort  to  the  states,  and  endeavor 
to  obtain  there  the  same  organization,  which  they  failed 
to  perpetuate  in  the  Union ;  and  with  specious  and  de 
ceitful  plans  of  public  advantages,  and  state  interests,  and 
state  pride,  they  will  endeavor  to  establish,  in  the  different 
states,  one  moneyed  institution  with  overgrown  capital, 
and  exclusive  privileges  sufficient  to  enable  it  to  control 


188  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  operations  of  other  banks.  Such  an  institution  will 
be  pregnant  with  the  same  evils  produced  by  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  although  its  sphere  of  action  is 
more  confined ;  and  in  the  state  in  which  it  is  chartered, 
the  money  power  will  be  able  to  imbody  its  whole  strength, 
and  to  move  together  with  undivided  force  to  accomplish 
any  object  it  may  wish  to  attain.  You  have  already  had 
abundant  evidence  of  its  powers  to  inflict  injury  upon  the 
agricultural,  mechanical,  and  laboring  classes  of  society; 
and  over  those  whose  engagements  in  trade  or  specula 
tion  render  them  dependent  on  bank  facilities,  the  do 
minion  of  the  state  monopoly  will  be  absolute,  and  their 
obedience  unlimited.  With  such  a  bank  and  a  paper 
currency,  the  money  power  would  in  a  few  years  govern 
the  state  and  control  its  measures ;  and  if  a  sufficient 
number  of  states  can  be  induced  to  create  such  establish 
ments,  the  time  will  soon  come  when  it  will  again  take 
the  field  against  the  United  States,  and  succeed  in  per 
fecting  and  perpetuating  its  organization  by  a  charter 
from  Congress. 

It  is  one  of  the  serious  evils  of  our  present  system  of 
banking,  that  it  enables  one  class  of  society  —  and  that  by 
no  means  a  numerous  one  —  by  its  control  over  the  cur 
rency,  to  act  injuriously  upon  the  interests  of  all  the 
others,  and  to  exercise  more  than  its  just  proportion  of 
influence  in  political  affairs.  The  agricultural,  the  me 
chanical,  and  the  laboring  classes,  have  little  or  no  share 
in  the  direction  of  the  great  moneyed  corporations  ;  and 
from  their  habits  and  the  nature  of  their  pursuits,  they 
are  incapable  of  forming  extensive  combinations  to  act 
together  with  united  force.  Such  concert  of  action  may 
sometimes  be  produced  in  a  single  city,  or  in  a  small  dis 
trict  of  country,  by  means  of  personal  communications 
with  each  other  ;  but  they  have  no  regular  or  active  cor 
respondence  with  those  who  are  engaged  in  similar  pur 
suits  in  distant  places ;  they  have  but  little  patronage  to 
give  to  the  press,  and  exercise  but  a  small  share  of  influ 
ence  over  it ;  they  have  no  crowd  of  dependants  about 
them,  who  hope  to  grow  rich  without  labor,  by  their  coun 
tenance  and  favor,  and  who  are,  therefore,  always  ready  to 
execute  their  wishes.  The  planter,  the  farmer,  the  me- 


JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  189 

chanic,  and  the  laborer,  all  know  that  their  success  depends 
upon  their  own  industry  and  economy,  and  that  they  must 
not  expect  to  become  suddenly  rich  by  the  fruits  of  their 
toil.  Yet  these  classes  form  the  great  body  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States ;  they  are  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the 
country  ;  men  who  love  liberty,  and  desire  nothing  but 
equal  rights  and  equal  laws,  and  who,  moreover,  hold  the 
great  mass  of  our  national  wealth,  although  it  is  distributed 
in  moderate  amounts  among  the  millions  of  freemen  who 
possess  it.  But,  with  overwhelming  numbers  and  wealth 
on  their  side,  they  are  in  constant  danger  of  losing  their 
fair  influence  in  the  government,  and  with  difficulty  main 
tain  their  just  rights  against  the  incessant  efforts  daily 
made  to  encroach  upon  them. 

The  mischief  springs  from  the  power  which  the  mon 
eyed  interest  derives  from  a  paper  currency,  which  they 
are  able  to  control,  from  the  multitude  of  corporations 
with  exclusive  privileges,  which  they  have  succeeded  in 
obtaining  in  the  different  states,  and  which  are  employed 
altogether  for  their  benefit ;  and  unless  you  become  more 
watchful  in  your  states,  and  check  this  spirit  of  monopo 
ly,  and  thirst  for  exclusive  privileges,  you  will,  in  the  end, 
find  that  the  most  important  powers  of  government  have 
been  given  or  bartered  away,  and  the  control  over  your 
dearest  interests  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  these  cor 
porations. 

The  paper-moneyed  system,  and  its  natural  associates, 
monopoly  and  exclusive  privileges,  have  already  struck 
their  roots  deep  in  the  soil,  and  it  will  require  all  your 
efforts  to  check  its  further  growth,  and  to  eradicate  the 
evil.  The  men  who  profit  by  the  abuses,  and  desire  to 
perpetuate  them,  will  continue  to  besiege  the  halls  of 
legislation  in  the  general  government  as  well  as  in  the 
states,  and  will  seek,  by  every  artifice,  to  mislead  and  de 
ceive  the  public  servants.  It  is  to  yourselves  that  you 
must  look  for  safety  and  the  means  of  guarding  and  per 
petuating  your  free  institutions.  In  your  hands  is  right 
fully  placed  the  sovereignty  of  the  country,  and  to  you 
every  one  placed  in  authority  is  ultimately  responsible. 
It  is  always  in  your  power  to  see  that  the  wishes  of  the 
people  are  carried  into  faithful  execution,  and  their  will, 


190  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

when  once  made  known,  must,  sooner  or  later,  be  obeyed. 
And  while  the  people  remain,  as  I  trust  they  ever  will, 
uncorrupted  and  incorruptible,  and  continue  watchful  and 
jealous  of  their  rights,  the  government  is  safe,  and  the 
cause  of  freedom  will  continue  to  triumph  over  all  its 
enemies. 

But  it  will  require  steady  and  persevering  exertions  on 
your  part  to  rid  yourselves  of  the  iniquities  and  mischiefs 
of  the  paper  system,  and  to  check  the  spirit  of  monopoly 
and  other  abuses  which  have  sprung  up  with  it,  and  of 
which  it  is  the  main  support.  So  many  interests  are  uni 
ted  to  resist  all  reform  on  this  subject,  that  you  must  not 
hope  the  conflict  will  be  a  short  one,  nor  success  easy. 
My  humble  efforts  have  not  been  spared,  during  my  ad 
ministration  of  the  government,  to  restore  the  constitu 
tional  currency  of  gold  and  silver;  and  something,  I  trust, 
has  been  done  towards  the  accomplishment  of  this  most 
desirable  object.  But  enough  yet  remains  to  require  all 
your  energy  and  perseverance.  The  power,  however,  is 
in  your  hands,  and  the  remedy  must  and  will  be  applied 
if  you  determine  upon  it. 

While  I  am  thus  endeavoring  to  press  upon  your  atten 
tion  the  principles  which  I  deem  of  vital  importance  to 
the  domestic  concerns  of  the  country,  I  ought  not  to  pass 
over  without  notice  the  important  considerations  which 
should  govern  your  policy  towards  foreign  powers.  It  is 
unquestionably  our  true  interest  to  cultivate  the  most 
friendly  understanding  with  every  nation,  and  to  avoid, 
by  every  honorable  means,  the  calamities  of  war  ;  and  we 
shall  best  attain  that  object  by  frankness  and  sincerity  in 
our  foreign  intercourse,  by  the  prompt  and  faithful  execu 
tion  of  treaties,  and  by  justice  and  impartiality  in  our 
conduct  to  all.  But  no  nation,  however  desirous  of  peace, 
can  hope  to  escape  collisions  with  other  powers  ;  and  the 
soundest  dictates  of  policy  require  that  we  should  place 
ourselves  in  a  condition  to  assert  our  rights,  if  a  resort  to 
force  should  ever  become  necessary.  Our  local  situation, 
our  long  line  of  sea-coast,  indented  by  numerous  bays, 
with  deep  rivers  opening  into  the  interior,  as  well  as  her 
extended  and  still  increasing  commerce,  point  to  the  navy 
as  our  natural  means  of  defence.  It  will,  in  the  end,  be 


JACKSON'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS.  191 

found  to  be  the  cheapest  and  most  effectual ;  and  now  is 
the  time,  in  a  season  of  peace,  and  with  an  overflowing 
revenue,  that  we  can,  year  after  year,  add  to  its  strength, 
without  increasing  the  burdens  of  the  people.  It  is  your 
true  policy.  For  your  navy  will  not  only  protect  your 
rich  and  flourishing  commerce  in  distant  sens,  but  enable 
you  to  reach  and  annoy  the  enemy,  and  will  give  to  de 
fence  its  greatest  efficiency,  by  meeting  danger  at  a  dis 
tance  from  home.  It  is  impossible,  by  any  line  of  fortifi 
cations,  to  guard  every  point  from  attack  against  a  hostile 
force  advancing  from  the  ocean,  and  selecting  its  object; 
but  they  are  indispensable  to  prevent  cities  from  bombard 
ment  ;  dock-yards  and  navy  arsenals  from  destruction ; 
to  give  shelter  to  merchant  vessels  in  time  of  war,  and  to 
single  ships  of  weaker  squadrons  when  pressed  by  supe 
rior  force.  Fortifications  of  this  description  cannot  be  too 
soon  completed  and  armed,  and  placed  in  a  condition  of 
the  most  perfect  preparation.  The  abundant  means  we 
now  possess  cannot  be  applied  in  any  manner  more  useful 
to  the  country ;  and  when  this  is  done,  and  our  naval  force 
sufficiently  strengthened,  and  our  military  armed,  we 
need  not  fear  that  any  nation  will  wantonly  insult  us,  or 
needlessly  provoke  hostilities.  We  shall  more  certainly 
preserve  peace,  when  it  is  well  understood  that  we  are 
prepared  for  war. 

In  presenting  to  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  these  parting 
counsels,  I  have  brought  before  you  the  leading  principles 
upon  which  I  endeavored  to  administer  the  government 
in  the  high  office  with  which  you  twice  honored  me. 
Knowing  that  the  path  of  freedom  is  continually  beset  by 
enemies,  who  often  assume  the  disguise  of  frie-nds,  I  have 
devoted  the  last  hours  of  my  public  life  to  warn  you  of  the 
dangers.  The  progress  of  the  United  States,  under  our 
free  and  happy  institutions,  has  surpassed  the  most  san 
guine  hopes  of  the  founders  of  the  republic.  Our  growth 
has  been  rapid  beyond  all  former  example,  in  numbers,  in 
wealth,  in  knowledge,  and  all  the  useful  arts  which  con 
tribute  to  the  comforts  and  convenience  of  man  ;  and 
from  the  earliest  ages  of  history  to  the  present  day,  there 
never  have  been  thirteen  millions  of  people  associated 
together  in  one  political  body,  who  enjoyed  so  much  free- 


192  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

dom  and  happiness  as  the  people  of  these  United  States. 
You  have  no  longer  any  cause  to  fear  danger  from  abroad; 
your  strength  and  power  are  well  known  throughout  the 
civilized  world,  as  well  as  the  high  and  gallant  bearing  of 
your  sons.  It  is  from  within,  among  yourselves,  from 
cupidity,  from  corruption,  from  disappointed  ambition, 
and  inordinate  thirst  for  power,  that  factions  will  be 
formed  and  liberty  endangered.  It  is  against  such  de 
signs,  whatever  disguise  the  actors  may  assume,  that  you 
have  especially  to  guard  yourselves.  You  have  the  highest 
of  human  trusts  committed  to  your  care.  Providence  has 
showered  on  this  favored  land  blessings  without  number, 
and  has  chosen  you,  as  the  guardians  of  freedom,  to  pre 
serve  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  human  race.  May  He,  who 
holds  in  his  hands  the  destinies  of  nations,  make  you  wor 
thy  of  the  favors  he  has  bestowed,  and  enable  you,  with 
pure  hearts,  and  pure  hands,  and  sleepless  vigilance,  to 
guard  and  defend  to  the  end  of  time  the  great  charge  he 
has  committed  to  your  keeping. 

My  own  race  is  nearly  run ;  advanced  age  and  failing 
health  warn  me  that  before  long  I  must  pass  beyond  the 
reach  of  human  events,  and  cease  to  feel  the  vicissitudes 
of  human  affairs.  I  thank  God  that  my  life  has  been 
spent  in  a  land  of  liberty,  and  that  he  has  given  me  a 
heart  to  love  my  country  with  the  affection  of  a  son. 
And  filled  with  gratitude  for  your  constant  and  un 
wavering  kindness,  I  bid  you  a  last  and  affectionate 
farewell. 


VAN  BUREN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

MARCH  4,  1837. 

Fellow-Citizens : 

THE  practice  of  all  my  predecessors  imposes  on  me  an 
obligation  I  cheerfully  fulfil,  to  accompany  the  first  and 
solemn  act  of  my  public  trust  with  an  avowal  of  the  prin 
ciples  that  will  guide  me  in  performing  it,  and  an  ex 
pression  of  my  feelings  on  assuming  a  charge  so  respon- 


VAN  BUREN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  193 

sible  and  vast.  In  imitating  their  example,  I  tread  iu  the 
footsteps  of  illustrious  men,  whose  superiors  it  is  our  hap 
piness  to  believe  are  not  found  on  the  executive  calendar 
of  any  country.  Among  them  we  recognize  the  earliest 
and  firmest  pillars  of  the  republic ;  those  by  whom  our 
national  independence  was  first  declared  ;  him  who,  above 
all  others,  contributed  to  establish  it  on  the  field  of  battle; 
and  those  whose  expanded  intellect  and  patriotism  con 
structed,  improved,  and  perfected  the  inestimable  insti 
tutions  under  which  we  live.  If  such  men,  in  the  position 
I  now  occupy,  felt  themselves  overwhelmed  by  a  sense  of 
gratitude  for  this,  the  highest  of  all  marks  of  their  coun 
try's  confidence,  and  by  a  consciousness  of  their  inability 
adequately  to  discharge  the  duties  of  an  office  so  difficult 
and  exalted,  how  much  more  must  these  considerations 
affect  one  who  can  rely  on  no  such  claim  for  favor  or 
forbearance!  Unlike  all  who  have  preceded  me,  the  revo 
lution  that  gave  us  existence  as  one  people,  was  achieved 
at  the  period  of  my  birth  ;  and  whilst  I  contemplate,  with 
grateful  reverence,  that  memorable  event,  I  feel  that  I 
belong  to  a  later  age,  and  that  I  may  not  expect  my 
countrymen  to  weigh  my  actions  with  the  same  kind  and 
partial  hand. 

So  sensibly,  fellow-citizens,  do  these  circumstances 
press  themselves  upon  me,  that  I  should  not  dare  to  enter 
upon  my  path  of  duty,  did  I  not  look  for  the  generous  aid 
of  those  who  will  be  associated  with  me  in  the  various 
and  coordinate  branches  of  the  government ;  did  I  not 
repose  with  unwavering  reliance  on  the  patriotism,  the 
intelligence,  and  the  kindness  of  a  people  who  never  yet 
deserted  a  public  servant  honestly  laboring  in  their  cause; 
and,  above  all,  did  I  not  permit  myself  humbly  to  hope  for 
the  sustaining  support  of  an  ever-watchful  and  beneficent 
Providence. 

To  the  confidence  and  consolation  derived  from  these 
sources,  it  would  be  ungrateful  not  to  add  those  which 
spring  from  our  present  fortunate  condition.  Thougli  not 
altogether  exempt  from  embarrassments  that  disturb  our 
tranquillity  at  home  and  threaten  it  abroad,  yet  in  all  the 
attributes  of  a  great,  happy,  and  flourishing  people,  we 
stand  without  a  parallel  in  the  world.  Abroad,  we  enjoy 
17 


194  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  respect,  and,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  the  friend 
ship  of  every  nation ;  at  home,  while  our  government 
quietly,  but  efficiently,  performs  the  sole  legitimate  end  of 
political  institutions,  in  doing  the  greatest  good  to  the 
greatest  number,  we  present  an  aggregate  of  human  pros 
perity  surely  not  elsewhere  to  be  found. 

How  imperious,  then,  is  the  obligation  imposed  upon 
every  citizen,  in  his  own  sphere  of  action,  whether  limited 
or  extended,  to  exert  himself  in  perpetuating  a  condition 
of  things  so  singularly  happy  !  All  the  lessons  of  history 
and  experience  must  be  lost  upon  us,  if  we  are  content  to 
trust  alone  to  the  peculiar  advantages  we  happen  to  pos 
sess.  Position  and  climate,  and  the  bounteous  resources 
that  nature  has  scattered  with  so  liberal  a  hand,  —  even 
the  diffused  intelligence  and  elevated  character  of  our 
people,  —  will  avail  us  nothing,  if  we  fail  sacredly  to  up 
hold  those  political  institutions  that  were  wisely  and  delib 
erately  formed,  with  reference  to  every  circumstance  that 
could  preserve  or  might  endanger  the  blessings  we  enjoy. 
The  thoughtful  framers  of  our  constitution  legislated  for 
our  country  as  they  found  it.  Looking  upon  it  with  the 
eyes  of  statesmen  and  of  patriots,  they  saw  all  the  sources 
of  rapid  and  wonderful  prosperity;  but  they  saw,  also,  that 
various  habits,  opinions,  and  institutions,  peculiar  to  the 
various  portions  of  so  vast  a  region,  were  deeply  fixed. 
Distinct  sovereignties  were  in  actual  existence,  whose  cor 
dial  union  was  essential  to  the  welfare  and  happiness  of 
all.  Between  many  of  them  there  was,  at  least  to  some 
extent,  a  real  diversity  of  interests,  liable  to  be  exagger 
ated  through  sinister  designs;  they  differed  in  size,  in 
population,  in  wealth,  and  in  actual  and  prospective  re 
sources  and  power ;  they  varied  in  the  character  of  their 
industry  and  staple  productions;  and  in  some  existed 
domestic  institutions,  which,  unwisely  disturbed,  might 
endanger  the  harmony  of  the  whole.  Most  carefully  were 
all  these  circumstances  weighed,  and  the  foundation  of 
the  government  laid  upon  principles  of  mutual  concession 
and  equitable  compromise.  The  jealousies  which  the 
smaller  states  might  entertain  of  the  power  of  the  rest, 
were  allayed  by  a  rule  of  representation,  confessedly  un 
equal  at  the  time,  and  designed  forever  to  remain  so.  A 


VAN  BUREN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.          195 

natural  fear  that  the  broad  scope  of  general  legislation 
might  bear  upon  and  unwisely  control  particular  interests, 
was  counteracted  by  limits  strictly  drawn  around  the  ac 
tion  of  the  federal  authority;  and  to  the  people  and  the 
states  was  left  unimpaired  their  sovereign  power  over  the 
innumerable  subjects  embraced  in  the  internal  government 
of  a  just  republic,  excepting  such  only  as  necessarily  ap- 
pert  lin  to  the  concerns  of  the  whole  confederacy,  or  its 
intercourse,  as  a  united  community,  with  the  other  nations 
of  the  world. 

This  provident  forecast  has  been  verified  by  time. 
Half  a  century,  teeming  with  extraordinary  events,  and 
elsewhere  producing  astonishing  results,  has  passed  along; 
but  on  our  institutions  it  has  left  no  injurious  mark. 
From  a  small  community,  we  have  risen  to  a  people  pow 
erful  in  numbers  and  in  strength ;  but  with  our  increase 
has  gone  hand  in  hand  the  progress  of  just  principle ;  the 
privileges,  civil  and  religious,  of  the  humblest  individual 
are  sacredly  protected  at  home ;  and  while  the  valor  and 
fortitude  of  our  people  have  removed  far  from  us  the 
slightest  apprehension  of  foreign  power,  they  have  not 
yet  induced  us,  in  a  single  instance,  to  forget  what  is 
right.  Our  commerce  has  been  extended  to  the  remotest 
nations;  the  value,  and  even  nature  of  the  productions 
has  been  greatly  changed ;  a  wide  difference  has  arisen  in 
the  relative  wealth  and  resources  of  every  portion  of  our 
country;  yet  the  spirit  of  mutual  regard  and  of  faithful 
adherence  to  existing  compacts,  has  continued  to  prevail  in 
our  councils,  and  never  long  been  absent  from  our  conduct. 
We  have  learned  by  experience  a  fruitful  lesson,  that  an 
implicit  and  undeviating  adherence  to  the  principles  on 
which  we  set  out  can  carry  us  prosperously  onward  through 
all  the  conflicts  of  circumstances,  and  the  vicissitudes  in 
separable  from  the  lapse  of  years. 

The  success  that  has  thus  attended  our  great  experi 
ment  is,  in  itself,  sufficient  cause  for  gratitude,  on  account 
of  the  happiness  it  has  actually  conferred,  and  the  example 
it  has  unanswerably  given.  But  to  me,  my  fellow-citizens, 
looking  forward  to  the  far-distant  future,  with  ardent 
prayers  and  confiding  hopes,  this  retrospect  presents  a 
ground  for  still  deeper  delight.  It  impresses  on  my  mind 


196  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

a  firm  belief  that  the  perpetuity  of  our  institutions  depends 
upon  themselves ;  that,  if  we  maintain  the  principles  on 
which  they  were  established,  they  are  destined  to  confer 
their  benefits  on  countless  generations  yet  to  come ;  and 
that  America  will  present  to  every  friend  of  mankind  the 
cheering  proof,  that  a  popular  government,  wisely  formed, 
is  wanting  in  no  element  of  endurance  or  strength.  Fifty 
years  ago,  its  rapid  failure  was  predicted.  Latent  and  un 
controllable  causes  of  dissolution  were  supposed  to  exist, 
even  by  the  wise  and  good ;  and  not  only  did  unfriendly  or 
speculative  theorists  anticipate  for  us  the  fate  of  past  repub 
lics,  but  the  fear  of  many  an  honest  patriot  overbalanced 
his  sanguine  hopes.  Look  back  on  these  forebodings,  not 
hastily,  but  reluctantly  made,  and  see  how,  in  every  in 
stance,  they  have  completely  failed. 

An  imperfect  experience,  during  the  struggles  of  the 
revolution,  was  supposed  to  warrant  the  belief  that  the 
people  would  not  bear  the  taxation  requisite  to  the  dis 
charge  of  an  immense  public  debt  already  incurred,  and 
to  defray  the  necessary  expenses  of  government.  The 
cost  of  two  wars  has  been  paid,  not  only  without  a  mur 
mur,  but  with  unequalled  alacrity.  No  one  is  now  left  to 
doubt  that  every  burden  will  be  cheerfully  borne  that  may 
be  necessary  to  sustain  our  civil  institutions,  or  guard  our 
honor  or  our  welfare.  Indeed,  all  experience  has  shown 
that  the  willingness  of  the  people  to  contribute  to  these 
ends,  in  cases  of  emergency,  has  uniformly  outrun  the  con 
fidence  of  their  representatives. 

In  the  early  stages  of  the  new  government,  when  all  felt 
the  imposing  influence,  as  they  recognized  the  unequalled 
services  of  the  first  President,  it  was  a  common  sentiment, 
that  the  great  weight  of  his  character  could  alone  bind  the 
discordant  materials  of  our  government  together,  and  save 
us  from  the  violence  of  contending  factions.  Since  his 
death,  nearly  forty  years  are  gone.  Party  exasperation 
has  been  often  carried  to  its  highest  point ;  the  virtue  and 
fortitude  of  the  people  have  sometimes  been  greatly  tried ; 
yet  our  system,  purified  and  enhanced  in  value  by  all  it 
has  encountered,  still  preserves  its  spirit  of  free  and  fear 
less  discussion,  blended  with  unimpaired  fraternal  feeling. 

The  capacity  of  the   people  for  self-government,  and 


197 

their  willingness,  from  a  high  sense  of  duty,  and  without 
those  exhibitions  of  coercive  power  so  generally  employed 
in  other  countries,  to  submit  to  all  needful  restraints  and 
exactions  of  the  municipal  law,  have  also  been  favorably 
exemplified  in  the  history  of  the  American  states.  Oc 
casionally,  it  is  true,  the  ardor  of  public  sentiment,  out 
running  the  regular  process  of  the  judicial  tribunals,  or 
seeking  to  reach  cases  not  denounced  as  criminal  by  the 
existing  law,  has  displayed  itself  in  a  manner  calculated 
to  give  pain  to  the  friends  of  free  government,  and  to  en 
courage  the  hopes  of  those  who  wish  for  its  overthrow. 
These  occurrences,  however,  have  been  less  frequent  in 
our  country  than  any  other  of  eqpal  population  on  the 
globe ;  and  with  the  diffusion  of  intelligence,  it  may  well 
be  hoped  that  they  will  constantly  diminish  in  frequency 
and  violence.  The  generous  patriotism  and  sound  com 
mon  sense  of  the  great  mass  of  our  fellow-citizens,  will 
assuredly,  in  time,  produce  this  result;  for  as  every  as 
sumption  of  illegal  power  not  only  wounds  the  majesty  of 
the  law,  but  furnishes  a  pretext  for  abridging  the  liberties 
of  the  people,  the  latter  have  the  most  direct  and  perma 
nent  interest  in  preserving  the  great  landmarks  of  social 
order,  and  maintaining,  on  all  occasions,  the  inviolability 
of  those  constitutional  and  legal  provisions  which  they 
themselves  have  made. 

In  a  supposed  unfitness  of  our  institutions  for  those 
hostile  emergencies  which  no  country  can  always  avoid, 
their  friends  found  a  fruitful  source  of  apprehension,  their 
enemies  of  hope.  While  they  foresaw  less  promptness  of 
action  than  in  governments  differently  formed,  they  over 
looked  the  far  more  important  considerations,  that  with  us 
war  could  never  be  the  result  of  individual  or  irrespon 
sible  will,  but  must  be  a  measure  of  redress  for  injuries 
sustained,  voluntarily  resorted  to  by  those  who  were  to  bear 
the  necessary  sacrifice,  who  would  consequently  feel  an 
individual  interest  in  the  contest,  and  whose  energy  would 
be  commensurate  with  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered. 
Actual  events  have  proved  their  error ;  the  last  war,  far 
from  impairing,  gave  new  confidence  to  our  government ; 
and  amid  recent  apprehensions  of  a  similar  conflict,  we  saw 
that  the  energies  of  our  country  would  not  be  wanting  in 
°17* 


198  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

ample  season  to  vindicate  its  rights.  We  may  not  possess, 
as  we  should  not  desire  to  possess,  the  extended  and  ever- 
ready  military  organization  of  other  nations ;  we  may  oc 
casionally  suffer  in  the  outset  for  the  want  of  it,  but,  among 
ourselves,  all  doubt  upon  this  great  point  has  ceased,  while 
a  salutary  experience  will  prevent  a  contrai-y  opinion  from 
inviting  aggression  from  abroad. 

Certain  danger  was  foretold  from  the  extension  of  our 
territory,  the  multiplication  of  states,  and  the  increase  of 
population.  Our  system  was  supposed  to  be  adapted  only 
to  boundaries  comparatively  narrow.  These  have  been 
widened  beyond  conjecture ;  the  members  of  our  confed 
eracy  are  already  doubled  ;  and  the  numbers  of  our  people 
are  incredibly  augmented.  The  alleged  causes  of  danger 
have  long  surpassed  anticipation,  but  none  of  the  conse 
quences  have  followed.  The  power  and  influence  of  the 
republic  have  risen  to  a  height  obvious  to  all  mankind ; 
respect  for  its  authority  was  not  more  apparent  at  its  ancient 
than  it  is  at  its  present  limits;  new  and  inexhaustible 
sources  of  general  prosperity  have  been  opened  ;  the  effects 
of  distance  have  been  averted  by  the  inventive  genius  of 
our  people,  developed  and  fostered  by  the  spirit  of  our  in 
stitutions  ;  and  the  large  variety  and  amount  of  interests, 
productions,  and  pursuits,  have  strengthened  the  chain  of 
mutual  dependence,  and  formed  a  circle  of  mutual  benefits, 
too  apparent  ever  to  be  overlooked. 

In  justly  balancing  the  powers  of  the  federal  and  state 
authorities,  difficulties  nearly  insurmountable  arose  at  the 
outset,  and  subsequent  collisions  were  deemed  inevitable. 
Amid  these,  it  was  scarcely  believed  possible  that  a  scheme 
of  government  so  complex  in  construction  could  remain 
uninjured.  From  time  to  time,  embarrassments  have  cer 
tainly  occurred  ;  but  how  just  is  the  confidence  of  future 
safety  imparted  by  the  knowledge  that  each  in  succession 
has  been  happily  removed  !  Overlooking  partial  and  tem 
porary  evils  as  inseparable  from  the  practical  operation  of 
all  human  institutions,  and  looking  only  to  the  general 
result,  every  patriot  has  reason  to  be  satisfied.  While  the 
federal  government  has  successfully  performed  its  appro 
priate  functions  in  relation  to  foreign  affairs,  and  concerns 
evidently  national,  that  of  every  state  has  remarkably  im- 


VAN  BUREN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  199 

proved  in  protecting  and  developing  local  interests  and 
individual  welfare;  and  if  the  vibrations  of  authority  have 
occasionally  tended  too  much  towards  one  or  other,  it  is 
unquestionably  certain  that  the  ultimate  operation  of  the 
entire  system  has  been  to  strengthen  all  the  existing  insti 
tutions,  and  to  elevate  our  whole  country  in  prosperity  and 
renown. 

The  last,  perhaps  the  greatest,  of  the  prominent  sources 
of  discord  and  disaster  supposed  to  lurk  in  our  political 
condition,  was  the  institution  of  domestic  slavery.  Our 
forefathers  were  deeply  impressed  with  the  delicacy  of  this 
subject,  and  they  treated  it  with  a  forbearance  so  evidently 
wise,  that,  in  spite  of  every  sinister  foreboding,  it  never, 
until  the  present  period,  disturbed  the  tranquillity  of  our 
common  country.  Such  a  result  is  sufficient  evidence  of 
the  justice  and  patriotism  of  their  course;  it  is  evidence 
not  to  be  mistaken,  that  an  adherence  to  it  can  prevent  all 
embarrassment  from  this,  as  well  as  every  other  anticipated 
cause  of  difficulty  or  danger.  Have  not  recent  events 
made  it  obvious  to  the  slightest  reflection,  that  the  least 
deviation  from  this  spirit  of  forbearance  is  injurious  to 
every  interest,  that  of  humanity  included  ? 

Amidst  the  violence  of  excited  passions,  this  generous 
and  fraternal  feeling  has  been  sometimes  disregarded ;  and 
standing  as  I  now  do  before  my  countrymen,  in  this  high 
place  of  honor  and  trust,  1  cannot  refrain  from  anxiously 
invoking  my  fellow-citizens  never  to  be  deaf  to  its  dictates. 
Perceiving,  before  my  election,  the  deep  interest  this  sub 
ject  was  beginning  to  excite,  I  believed  it  a  solemn  duty 
fully  to  make  known  my  sentiments  in  regard  to  it ;  and 
now,  when  every  motive  for  misrepresentation  has  passed 
away,  I  trust  that  they  will  be  candidly  weighed  and  un 
derstood.  At  least  they  will  be  my  standard  of  conduct  in 
the  path  before  me.  I  then  declared  that,  if  the  desire  of 
those  of  my  countrymen  who  were  favorable  to  my  election 
was  gratified,  "I  must  go  into  the  presidential  chair  the 
inflexible  and  uncompromising  opponent  of  every  attempt, 
on  the  part  of  Congress,  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  against  the  wishes  of  the  slaveholding  states; 
and  also  with  a  determination  equally  decided  to  resist  the 
slightest  interference  with  it  in  the  states  where  it  exists." 


200  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

I  submitted  also  to  my  fellow-citizens,  with  fulness  and 
frankness,  the  reasons  which  led  me  to  this  determination. 
The  result  authorizes  me  to  believe  that  they  have  been 
approved,  and  are  confided  in  by  a  majority  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  including  those  whom  they  most  im 
mediately  affect.  It  now  only  remains  to  add,  that  no  bill 
conflicting  with  these  views  can  ever  receive  my  constitu 
tional  sanction.  These  opinions  have  been  adopted  in  the 
firm  belief  that  they  are  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  that 
actuated  the  venerated  fathers  of  the  republic,  and  that 
succeeding  experience  has  proved  them  to  be  humane, 
patriotic,  expedient,  honorable,  and  just.  If  the  agitation 
of  this  subject  was  intended  to  reach  the  stability  of  our 
institutions,  enough  has  occurred  to  show  that  it  has 
signally  failed ;  and  that  in  this,  as  in  every  other  instance, 
the  apprehensions  of  the  timid  and  the  hopes  of  the  wicked 
for  the  destruction  of  our  government,  are  again  destined 
to  be  disappointed.  Here  and  there,  indeed,  scenes  of 
dangerous  excitement  have  occurred  ;  terrifying  instances 
of  local  violence  have  been  witnessed;  and  a  reckless  dis 
regard  of  the  consequences  of  their  conduct  has  exposed 
individuals  to  popular  indignation ;  but  neither  masses  of 
the  people  nor  sections  of  the  country  have  swerved  from 
their  devotion  to  the  bond  of  union,  and  the  principles  it 
has  made  sacred.  It  will  be  ever  thus.  Such  attempts  at 
agitation  may  periodically  return,  but  with  each  the  object 
will  be  better  understood.  That  predominating  affection 
for  our  political  system  which  prevails  throughout  our  ter 
ritorial  limits,  that  calm  and  enlightened  judgment  which 
ultimately  governs  our  people  as  one  vast  body,  will  always 
be  at  hand  to  resist  and  control  every  effort,  foreign  or 
domestic,  which  aims  or  would  lead  to  overthrow  our  in 
stitutions. 

What  can  be  more  gratifying  than  such  a  retrospect  as 
this  ?  We  look  back  on  obstacles  avoided  and  dangers 
overcome;  on  expectations  more  than  realized,  and  pros 
perity  perfectly  secured.  To  the  hopes  of  the  hostile,  the 
fears  of  the  timid,  and  the  doubts  of  the  anxious,  actual 
experience  has  given  the  conclusive  reply.  We  have  seen 
time  gradually  dispel  every  unfavorable  foreboding,  and 
our  constitution  surmount  every  adverse  circumstance, 


VAN  BUREN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.    201 

dreaded  at  the  outset  as  beyond  control.  Present  excite 
ment  will,  at  all  times,  magnify  present  dangers;  but  true 
philosophy  must  teach  us  that  none  more  threatening  than 
the  past  can  remain  to  be  overcome ;  and  we  ought,  for  we 
have  just  reason,  to  entertain  an  abiding  confidence  in  the 
stability  of  our  institutions,  and  an  entire  conviction  that, 
if  administered  in  the  true  form,  character,  and  spirit  in 
which  they  were  established,  they  are  abundantly  adequate 
to  preserve  to  us  and  our  children  the  rich  blessings  al 
ready  derived  from  them ;  to  make  our  beloved  land,  for  a 
thousand  generations,  that  chosen  spot  where  happiness 
springs  from  a  perfect  equality  of  political  rights. 

For  myself,  therefore,  I  desire  to  declare,  that  the  prin 
ciple  that  will  govern  me  in  the  high  duty  to  which  my 
country  calls  me,  is  a  strict  adherence  to  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  constitution,  as  it  was  designed  by  those  who 
framed  it.  Looking  back  to  it  as  a  sacred  instrument, 
carefully  and  not  easily  framed;  remembering  that  it  was 
throughout  a  work  of  concession  and  compromise,  viewing 
it  as  limited  to  national  objects ;  regarding  it  as  leaving  to 
the  people  and  the  states  all  power  not  explicitly  parted 
with,  —  I  shall  endeavor  to  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  it, 
by  anxiously  referring  to  its  provisions  for  direction  in 
every  action.  To  matters  of  domestic  concernment  which 
it  has  intrusted  to  the  federal  government,  and  to  such  as 
relate  to  our  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  I  shall  zeal 
ously  devote  myself;  beyond  those  limits  I  shall  never  pass. 

To  enter,  on  this  occasion,  into  a  further  or  more 
minute  exposition  of  my  views  on  the  various  questions 
of  domestic  policy,  would  be  as  obtrusive  as  it  is  probably 
unexpected.  Before  the  suffrages  of  my  countrymen  were 
conferred  upon  me,  I  submitted  to  them,  with  great  pre 
cision,  my  opinions  on  all  the  most  prominent  of  these 
subjects.  Those  opinions  I  shall  endeavor  to  carry  out 
with  the  utmost  of  my  ability. 

Our  course  of  foreign  policy  has  been  so  uniform  and 
intelligible,  as  to  constitute  a  rule  of  executive  conduct 
which  leaves  little  to  my  discretion,  unless,  indeed,  I  were 
willing  to  run  counter  to  the  lights  of  experience,  and  the 
known  opinions  of  my  constituents.  We  sedulously  cul 
tivate  the  friendship  of  all  nations,  as  the  condition  most 


202  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

compatible  with  our  welfare,  and  the  principles  of  our 
government.  We  decline  alliances,  as  adverse  to  our 
peace.  We  desire  commercial  relations  on  equal  terms, 
being  ever  willing  to  give  a  fair  equivalent  for  advantages 
received.  We  endeavor  to  conduct  our  intercourse  with 
openness  and  sincerity ;  promptly  avowing  our  objects, 
and  seeking  to  establish  that  mutual  frankness  which  is  as 
beneficial  in  the  dealings  of  nations  as  of  men.  We  have 
no  disposition,  and  we  disclaim  all  right,  to  meddle  in  dis 
putes,  whether  internal  or  foreign,  that  may  molest  other 
countries;  regarding  them  in  their  actual  state,  as  social 
communities,  and  preserving  a  strict  neutrality  in  all  their 
controversies.  Well  knowing  the  tried  valor  of  our  people, 
and  our  exhaustless  resources,  we  neither  anticipate  nor 
fear  any  designed  aggression  ;  and  in  the  consciousness  of 
our  own  just  conduct,  we  feel  a  security  that  we  shall 
never  be  called  upon  to  exert  our  determination,  never  to 
permit  an  invasion  of  our  rights,  without  punishment  or 
redress. 

In  approaching,  then,  in  the  presence  of  my  assembled 
countrymen,  to  make  the  solemn  promise  that  yet  remains, 
and  to  pledge  myself  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  office 
I  am  about  to  fill,  I  bring  with  me  a  settled  purpose  to 
maintain  the  institutions  of  my  country,  which,  I  trust, 
will  atone  for  the  errors  I  commit. 

In  receiving  from  the  people  the  sacred  trust  twice  con 
fided  to  my  illustrious  predecessor,  and  which  he  has  dis 
charged  so  faithfully  and  so  well,  I  know  that  I  cannot 
expect  to  perform  the  arduous  task  with  equal  ability  and 
success.  But,  united  as  I  have  been  in  his  counsels,  a 
daily  witness  of  his  exclusive  and  unsurpassed  devotion  to 
his  country's  welfare,  agreeing  with  him  in  sentiments 
which  his  countrymen  have  warmly  supported,  and  per 
mitted  to  partake  largely  of  his  confidence,  I  may  hope 
that  somewhat  of  the  same  cheering  approbation  will  be 
found  to  attend  upon  my  path.  For  him,  I  but  express, 
with  my  own,  the  wishes  of  all,  that  he  may  yet  long  live 
to  enjoy  the  brilliant  evening  of  his  well-spent  life,  and 
for  myself,  conscious  of  but  one  desire,  faithfully  to  serve 
my  country,  I  throw  myself,  without  fear,  on  its  justice 
and  kindness.  Beyond  that,  I  only  look  to  the  gracious 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.        203 

protection  of  that  Divine  Being  whose  strengthening  sup 
port  I  humbly  solicit,  and  whom  I  fervently  pray  to  look 
down  upon  us  all.  May  it  be  among  the  dispensations 
of  his  providence  to  bless  our  beloved  country  with  honors 
and  with  length  of  days ;  may  her  ways  be  ways  of  pleas 
antness,  and  all  her  paths  be  peace. 


VAN  BUREFS   FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

DECEMBER  4,  1837. 

To  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives  : 

WE  have  reason  to  renew  the  expression  of  our  devout 
gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  for  his  benign  protec 
tion.  Our  country  presents  on  every  side  the  evidences 
of  that  continued  favor  under  whose  auspices  it  has  grad 
ually  risen  from  a  few  feeble  and  dependent  colonies  to  a 
prosperous  and  powerful  confederacy.  We  are  blessed 
with  domestic  tranquillity  and  all  the  elements  of  national 
prosperity.  The  pestilence  which,  invading  for  a  time 
some  flourishing  portions  of  the  Union,  interrupted  the 
general  prevalence  of  unusual  health,  has  happily  been 
limited  in  extent,  and  arrested  in  its  fatal  career.  The 
industry  and  prudence  of  our  citizens  are  gradually  reliev 
ing  them  from  the  pecuniary  embarrassments  under  which 
portions  of  them  have  labored;  judicious  legislation,  and 
the  natural  and  boundless  resources  of  the  country,  have 
afforded  wise  and  timely  aid  to  private  enterprise ;  and  the 
activity  always  characteristic  of  our  people  has  already  in 
a  great  degree  resumed  its  usual  and  profitable  channels. 

The  condition  of  our  foreign  relations  has  not  materially 
changed  since  the  last  annual  message  of  my  predecessor. 
We  remain  in  peace  with  all  nations  ;  and  no  efforts  on  my 
part,  consistent  with  the  preservation  of  our  rights  and  the 
honor  of  our  country,  shall  be  spared  to  maintain  a  position 
so  consonant  to  our  institutions.  We  have  faithfully  sus 
tained  the  foreign  policy  with  which  the  United  States, 


204  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

under  the  guidance  of  their  first  President,  took  their  stand 
in  the  family  of  nations  —  that  of  regulating  their  inter 
course  with  other  powers  by  the  approved  principles  of 
private  life  ;  asking  and  according  equal  rights  and  equal 
privileges ;  rendering  and  demanding  justice  in  all  cases ; 
advancing  their  own  and  discussing  the  pretensions  of 
others,  with  candor,  directness,  and  sincerity  ;  appealing  at 
all  times  to  reason,  but  never  yielding  to  force,  nor  seeking 
to  acquire  any  thing  for  themselves  by  its  exercise. 

A  rigid  adherence  to  this  policy  has  left  this  government 
with  scarcely  a  claim  upon  its  justice,  for  injuries  arising 
from  acts  committed  by  its  authority.  The  most  imposing 
and  perplexing  of  those  of  the  United  States  upon  foreign 
governments  for  aggressions  upon  our  citizens,  were  dis 
posed  of  by  my  predecessor.  Independently  of  the  benefits 
conferred  upon  our  citizens  by  restoring  to  the  mercantile 
community  so  many  millions  of  which  they  had  been 
wrongfully  divested,  a  great  service  was  also  rendered  to 
his  country  by  the  satisfactory  adjustment  of  so  many  an 
cient  and  irritating  subjects  of  contention ;  and  it  reflects 
no  ordinary  credit  on  his  successful  administration  of  pub 
lic  affairs,  that  this  great  object  was  accomplished  without 
compromising,  on  any  occasion,  either  the  honor  or  the, 
peace  of  the  nation. 

With  European  powers,  no  new  subjects  of  difficulty 
have  arisen ;  arid  those  which  were  under  discussion,  al 
though  not  terminated,  do  not  present  a  more  unfavorable 
aspect  for  the  future  preservation  of  that  good  understand 
ing  which  it  has  ever  been  our  desire  to  cultivate. 

Of  pending  questions,  the  most  important  is  that  which 
exists  with  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  in  respect  to 
our  north-eastern  boundary.  It  is  with  unfeigned  regret 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States  must  look  back  upon 
the  abortive  efforts  made  by  the  executive,  for  a  period  of 
more  than  half  a  century,  to  determine,  what  no  nation 
should  suffer  long  to  remain  in  dispute,  the  true  line  which 
divides  its  possessions  from  those  of  other  powers.  The 
nature  of  the  settlement  on  the  borders  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  the  neighboring  territory,  was  for  a  season 
such,  that  this,  perhaps,  was  not  indispensable  to  a  faithful 
performance  of  the  duties  of  the  federal  government. 


Time  has,  however,  changed  this  state  of  things ;  and 
has  brought  about  a  condition  of  affairs,  in  which  the  true 
interests  of  both  countries  imperatively  require  that  this 
question  should  be  put  at  rest.  It  is  not  to  be  disguised, 
that  with  full  confidence,  often  expressed,  in  the  desire  of 
the  British  government  to  terminate  it,  we  are  apparently 
as  far  from  its  adjustment  as  we  were  at  the  time  of  signing 
the  treaty  of  peace  in  1783.  The  sole  result  of  long-pend 
ing  negotiations,  and  a  perplexing  arbitration,  appears  to 
be  a  conviction,  on  its  part,  that  a  conventional  line  must 
be  adopted,  from  the  impossibility  of  ascertaining  the  true 
one  according  to  the  description  contained  in  that  treaty. 
Without  coinciding  in  this  opinion,  which  is  not  thought 
to  be  well  founded,  my  predecessor  gave  the  strongest 
proof  of  the  earnest  desire  of  the  United  States  to  terminate 
satisfactorily  this  dispute,  by  proposing  the  substitution  of 
a  conventional  line,  if  the  consent  of  the  states  interested 
in  the  question  could  be  obtained. 

To  this  proposition,  no  answer  has  yet  been  received. 
The  attention  of  the  British  government,  however,  has 
been  earnestly  invited  to  the  subject,  and  its  reply  cannot, 
I  am  confident,  be  much  longer  delayed.  The  general 
relations  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
are  of  the  most  friendly  character,  and  I  am  well  satisfied 
of  the  sincere  disposition  of  that  government  to  maintain 
them  upon  their  present  footing.  This  disposition  has 
also,  I  m  persuaded,  become  more  general  with  the  peo 
ple  of  England  than  at  any  previous  period.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  to  you,  how  cordially  it  is  reciprocated 
by  the  government  and  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
The  conviction,  which  must  be  common  to  all,  of  the  in 
jurious  consequences  that  result  from  keeping  open  this 
irritating  question,  and  the  certainty  that  its  final  settle 
ment  cannot  be  much  longer  deferred,  will,  I  trust,  lead 
to  an  early  and  satisfactory  adjustment.  At  your  last 
session,  I  laid  before  you  the  recent  communications  be 
tween  the  two  governments,  and  between  this  government 
and  that  of  the  state  of  Maine,  in  whose  solicitude,  con 
cerning  a  subject  in  which  she  has  so  deep  an  interest, 
every  portion  of  the  Union  participates. 

The  feelings  produced  by  a  temporary  interruption  of 
18 


206  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

those  harmonious  relations  between  France  and  the  Uni 
ted  States,  which  are  due  as  well  to  the  recollections  of 
former  times  as  to  a  correct  appreciation  of  existing  inter 
ests,  have  been  happily  succeeded  by  a  cordial  disposition 
on  both  sides  to  cultivate  an  active  friendship  in  their 
future  intercourse.  The  opinion,  undoubtedly  correct,  and 
steadily  entertained  by  us,  that,  the  commercial  relations  at 
present  existing  between  the  two  countries,  are  suscep 
tible  of  great  and  reciprocally  beneficial  improvements, 
is  obviously  gaining  ground  in  France ;  and  I  am  assured 
of  the  disposition  of  that  government  to  favor  the  accom 
plishment  of  such  an  object.  This  disposition  shall  be 
met  in  a  proper  spirit  on  our  part.  The  few  and  com 
paratively  unimportant  questions  that  remain  to  be  ad 
justed  between  us,  can,  I  have  no  doubt,  be  settled  with 
entire  satisfaction,  and  without  difficulty. 

Between  Russia  and  the  United  States,  sentiments  of 
good-will  continue  to  be  mutually  cherished.  Our  min 
ister  recently  accredited  to  that  court,  has  been  received 
with  a  frankness  and  cordiality,  and  with  evidences  of 
respect  for  his  country,  which  leaves  us  no  room  to  doubt 
the  preservation  in  future  of  those  amicable  and  liberal 
relations  which  have  so  long  and  so  uninterruptedly  ex 
isted  between  the  two  countries.  On  the  few  subjects 
under  discussion  between  us,  an  early  and  just  decision 
is  confidently  anticipated. 

A  correspondence  has  been  opened  with  the  government 
of  Austria,  for  the  establishment  of  diplomatic  relations, 
in  conformity  with  the  wishes  of  Congress,  as  indicated 
by  an  appropriation  act  of  the  session  of  1837,  and  ar 
rangements  made  for  the  purpose,  which  will  be  duly 
carried  into  effect. 

With  Austria  and  Prussia,  and  with  the  states  of  the 
German  empire,  now  composing  with  the  latter  the  Com 
mercial  League,  our  political  relations  are  of  the  most 
friendly  character,  while  our  commercial  intercourse  is 
gradually  extending,  with  benefit  to  all  who  are  engaged 
in  it. 

Civil  war  yet  rages  in  Spain,  producing  intense  suffer 
ing  to  its  own  people,  and  to  other  nations  inconvenience 
and  regret.  Our  citizens  who  have  claims  upon  that 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       207 

country  will  be  prejudiced  for  a  time  by  the  condition  of 
its  treasury,  the  inevitable  consequence  of  long-continued 
and  exhausting  internal  wars.  The  last  instalment  of 
the  interest  of  the  debt  due  under  the  convention  with  the 
queen  of  Spain  has  not  been  paid  ;  and  similar  failures 
may  be  expected  to  happen  until  a  portion  of  the  resources 
of  her  kingdom  can  be  devoted  to  the  extinguishment  of 
its  foreign  debt. 

Having  received  satisfactory  evidence  that  discriminating 
tonnage  duties  were  charged  upon  vessels  of  the  United 
States  in  the  ports  of  Portugal,  a  proclamation  was  issued 
on  the  llth  day  of  October  last,  in  compliance  with  the 
act  of  May  25th,  1832,  declaring  that  fact,  and  the  duties 
on  foreign  tonnage,  which  were  levied  upon  Portuguese 
vessels  in  the  United  States,  previously  to  the  passage  of 
that  act,  are  accordingly  revived. 

The  act  of  July  4th,  1836,  suspending  the  discriminating 
duties  upon  the  produce  of  Portugal  imported  into  this 
country  in  Portuguese  vessels,  was  passed,  upon  the  appli 
cation  of  that  government,  through  its  representative  here, 
under  the  belief  that  no  similar  discrimination  existed  in 
Portugal  to  the  prejudice  of  the  United  States.  I  regret 
to  state  that  such  duties  are  now  exacted,  in  that  country, 
upon  the  cargoes  of  American  vessels ;  and  as  the  act  re 
ferred  to  vests  no  discretion  in  the  executive,  it  is  for 
Congress  to  determine  upon  the  expediency  of  further 
legislation  upon  the  subject.  Against  these  discrimina 
tions,  affecting  the  vessels  of  this  country  and  their  cargoes, 
seasonable  remonstrance  was  made,  and  notice  was  given 
to  the  Portuguese  government,  that,  unless  they  should  be 
discontinued,  the  adoption  of  countervailing  measures  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  would  become  necessary ;  but 
the  reply  of  that  government,  received  at  the  department 
of  state  through  our  charge  d'affaires  at  Lisbon,  in  the 
month  of  September  last,  afforded  no  ground  to  hope  for 
the  abandonment  of  a  system  so  little  in  harmony  with  the 
treatment  shown  to  the  vessels  of  Portugal  and  their  car 
goes,  in  the  ports  of  this  country,  and  so  contrary  to  the 
expectations  we  had  a  right  to  entertain. 

With   Holland,  Sweden,    Denmark,   Naples,  and    Bel- 


208  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

gium,  a  friendly  intercourse  has  been  uninterruptedly 
maintained. 

With  the  government  of  the  Ottoman  Porte,  and  its  de 
pendencies  on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  peace  and 
good-will  are  carefully  cultivated,  and  have  been  fostered 
by  such  good  offices  as  the  relative  distance  and  the  con 
dition  of  those  countries  would  permit. 

Our  commerce  with  Greece  is  carried  on  under  the  laws 
of  the  two  governments,  reciprocally  beneficial  to  the  nav 
igating  interests  of  both ;  and  I  have  reason  to  look  for 
ward  to  the  adoption  of  other  measures  which  will  be  more 
extensively  and  permanently  advantageous. 

Copies  of  the  treaties  concluded  with  the  governments 
of  Siam  and  Muscat  are  transmitted  for  the  information 
of  Congress,  the  ratifications  having  been  received,  and  the 
treaties  made  public,  since  the  close  of  the  last  annual 
session.  Already  have  we  reason  to  congratulate  ourselves 
on  the  prospect  of  considerable  commercial  benefit ;  and 
we  have,  besides,  received  from  the  Sultan  of  Muscat, 
prompt  evidence  of  his  desire  to  cultivate  the  most  friendly 
feelings,  by  liberal  acts  towards  one  of  our  vessels,  bestowed 
in  a  manner  so  striking  as  to  require  on  our  part  a  grateful 
acknowledgment. 

Our  commerce  with  the  Island  of  Cuba  and  Porto 
Rico  still  labors  under  heavy  restrictions,  the  continuance 
of  which  is  a  subject  of  regret.  The  only  effect  of  an 
adherence  to  them  will  be  to  benefit  the  navigation  of 
other  countries,  at  the  expense  both  of  the  United  States 
and  Spain. 

The  independent  nations  of  this  continent  have,  ever 
since  they  emerged  from  the  colonial  state,  experienced 
severe  trials  in  their  progress  to  the  permanent  establish 
ment  of  liberal  political  institutions.  Their  unsettled 
condition  not  only  interrupts  their  own  advances  to  pros 
perity,  but  has  often  seriously  injured  the  other  powers  of 
the  world.  The  claims  of  our  citizens  upon  Peru,  Chili., 
Brazil,  the  Argentine  Republic,  the  governments  formed 
out  of  the  republics  of  Colombia  and  Mexico,  are  still 
pending,  although  many  of  them  have  been  presented  for 
examination  more  than  twenty  years.  New  Grenada, 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       209 

Venezuela,  and  Ecuador,  have  recently  formed  a  conven 
tion  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  and  adjusting  the 
claims  upon  the  republic  of  Colombia,  from  which  it  is 
earnestly  hoped  our  citizens  will,  ere  long,  receive  full 
compensation  for  the  injuries  originally  inflicted  upon 
them,  and  for  the  delay  in  affording  it. 

An  advantageous  treaty  of  commerce  has  been  con 
cluded  by  the  United  States  with  the  Peru-Bolivian  Con 
federation,  which  wants  only  the  ratification  of  that  gov 
ernment.  The  progress  of  a  subsequent  negotiation  for 
the  settlement  of  claims  upon  Peru,  has  been  unfavorably 
affected  by  the  war  between  that  power  and  Chili,  and 
the  Argentine  Republic  ;  and  the  same  event  is  likely  to 
produce  delays  in  the  settlement  of  our  demands  on  those 
powers. 

The  aggravating  circumstances  connected  with  our 
claims  upon  Mexico,  and  a  variety  of  events  touching 
the  honor  and  integrity  of  our  government,  led  my  prede 
cessor  to  make,  at  the  second  session  of  the  last  Congress, 
a  special  recommendation  of  the  course  to  be  pursued  to 
obtain  a  speedy  and  final  satisfaction  of  the  injuries  com 
plained  of  by  this  government  and  by  our  citizens.  He 
recommended  a  final  demand  of  redress,  with  a  contingent 
authority  to  the  executive  to  make  reprisals,  if  that  de 
mand  should  be  made  in  vain.  From  the  proceedings  of 
Congress  on  that  recommendation,  it  appeared  that  the 
opinion  of  both  branches  of  the  legislature  coincided  with 
that  of  the  executive,  that  any  mode  of  redress  known  to 
the  law  of  nations  might  justifiably  be  used.  It  was  ob 
vious,  too,  that  Congress  believed,  with  the  President, 
that  another  demand  should  be  made,  in  order  to  give 
undeniable  and  satisfactory  proof  of  our  desire  to  avoid 
extremities  with  a  neighboring  power ;  but  that  there 
was  an  indisposition  to  vest  a  discretionary  authority  in 
the  executive  to  take  redress,  should  it  unfortunately  be 
either  denied  or  unreasonably  delayed  by  the  Mexican 
government. 

So  soon  as  the   necessary  documents    were   prepared, 
after  entering  upon  the  duties  of  my  office,  a  special  mes 
senger  was  sent  to  Mexico,  to  make  a  final  demand  of  re 
dress,  with  the  documents  required  by  the  provisions  of 
IS* 


210  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

our  treaty.  The  demand  was  made  on  the  20th  of  July 
last.  The  reply,  which  bears  date  the  29th  of  the  same 
month,  contains  assurances  of  a  desire,  on  the  part  of  that 
government,  to  give  a  prompt  and  explicit  answer  respect 
ing  each  of  the  complaints,  but  that  the  examination  of 
them  would  necessarily  be  deliberate  ;  that  in  this  exami 
nation  it  would  be  guided  by  the  principles  of  public  law 
and  the  obligation  of  treaties ;  that  nothing  should  be  left 
undone  that  might  lead  to  the  most  equitable  adjustment 
of  our  demands ;  and  that  its  determination,  in  respect  to 
each  case,  should  be  communicated  through  the  Mexican 
minister  here. 

Since  that  time,  an  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister 
plenipotentiary  has  been  accredited  to  this  government 
by  that  of  the  Mexican  republic.  He  brought  with  him 
assurances  of  a  sincere  desire  that  the  pending  differences 
between  the  two  governments  should  be  terminated  in  a 
manner  satisfactory  to  both.  He  was  received  with  re 
ciprocal  assurances,  and  a  hope  was  entertained  that  his 
mission  would  lead  to  a  speedy,  satisfactory,  and  final  ad 
justment  of  all  existing  subjects  of  complaint.  A  sincere 
believer  in  the  wisdom  of  the  pacific  policy  by  which  the 
United  States  have  always  been  governed  in  their  inter 
course  with  foreign  nations,  it  was  my  particular  desire, 
from  the  proximity  of  the  Mexican  republic,  and  well- 
known  occurrences  on  our  frontier,  to  be  instrumental  in 
obviating  all  existing  difficulties  with  that  government, 
and  in  restoring  to  the  intercourse  between  the  two  re 
publics,  that  liberal  and  friendly  character  by  which  they 
should  always  be  distinguished.  I  regret,  therefore,  the 
more  deeply,  to  have  found  in  the  recent  communications 
of  that  government,  so  little  reason  to  hope  that  any 
efforts  of  mine  for  the  accomplishment  of  those  desirable 
objects  would  be  successful. 

Although  the  larger  number,  and  many  of  them  aggra 
vated  cases,  of  personal  wrongs  have  been  now  for  years 
before  the  Mexican  government,  and  some  of  the  causes 
of  national  complaint,  and  those  of  the  most  offensive  char 
acter,  admitted  of  immediate,  simple,  and  satisfactory  re 
plies,  it  is  only  within  a  few  days  past  that  any  specific 
communication  in  answer  to  our  last  demand,  made  five 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       211 

months  ago,  has  been  received  from  the  Mexican  minis 
ter.  By  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  state,  herewith 
presented,  and  the  accompanying  documents,  it  will  be 
seen  that  for  not  one  of  our  public  complaints  has  satis 
faction  been  given  or  offered ;  that  but  one  of  the  causes 
of  personal  wrong  has  been  favorably  considered ;  and 
that  but  four  cases  of  both  descriptions,  out  of  all  those 
formally  presented,  and  earnestly  pressed,  have  as  yet  been 
decided  upon  by  the  Mexican  government. 

Not  perceiving  in  what  manner  any  of  the  powers  given 
to  the  executive  alone,  could  be  further  usefully  employed 
in  bringing  this  unfortunate  controversy  to  a  satisfactory 
termination,  the  subject  was,  by  my  predecessor,  referred 
to  Congress,  as  one  calling  for  its  interposition.  In  ac 
cordance  with  the  clearly  understood  wishes  of  the  legis 
lature,  another  and  formal  demand  for  satisfaction  has 
been  made  upon  the  Mexican  government,  with  what  suc 
cess  the  documents  now  communicated  will  show.  On  a 
careful  and  deliberate  examination  of  their  contents,  and 
considering  the  spirit  manifested  by  the  Mexican  gov 
ernment,  it  has  become  my  painful  duty  to  return  the 
subject,  as  it  now  stands,  to  Congress,  to  whom  it  belongs 
to  decide  upon  the  time,  the  mode,  and  the  measures  of 
redress.  Whatever  may  be  your  decision,  it  shall  be 
faithfully  executed,  confident  that  it  will  be  characterized 
by  that  moderation  and  justice  which  will,  I  trust,  under 
all  circumstances,  govern  the  councils  of  our  country. 

The  balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  first  day  of  January, 
1837,  was  forty-five  millions  nine  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-three  dollars.  The 
receipts,  during  the  present  year,  from  all  sources,  inclu 
ding  the  amount  of  treasury  notes  issued,  are  estimated  at 
twenty-three  millions  four  hundred  and  ninety-nine  thou 
sand  nine  hundred  and  eighty-one  dollars,  constituting  an 
aggregate  of  sixty-nine  millions  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  thousand  five  hundred  and  four  dollars.  Of  this 
amount,  about  thirty-five  millions  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
one  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-one  dollars  will 
have  been  expended,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  on  appro 
priations  made  by  Congress ;  and  the  residue,  amounting 
to  thirty-four  millions  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  thou- 


212  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

sand  one  hundred  and  forty-three  dollars,  will  be  the 
nominal  balance  in  the  treasury  on  the  first  of  January 
next.  But  of  that  sum,  only  one  million  eighty-five  thou 
sand  four  hundred  and  ninety-eight  dollars  is  considered 
as  immediately  available  for,  and  applicable  to,  public 
purposes. 

Those  portions  of  it  which  will  be  for  some  time  una 
vailable,  consist  chiefly  of  sums  deposited  with  the  states, 
and  due  from  the  former  deposit  banks.  The  details 
upon  this  subject  will  be  found  in  the  annual  report  of 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury.  The  amount  of  treasury 
notes  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  issue  during  the  year 
on  account  of  those  funds  being  unavailable,  will,  it  is 
supposed,  not  exceed  four  and  a  half  millions.  It  seemed 
proper,  in  the  condition  of  the  country,  to  have  the  esti 
mates  on  all  subjects  made  as  low  as  practicable,  without 
prejudice  to  any  great  public  measures.  The  departments 
were,  therefore,  desired  to  prepare  their  estimates  accord 
ingly  ;  and  I  am  happy  to  find  that  they  have  been  able  to 
graduate  them  on  so  economical  a  scale. 

In  the  great  and  often  unexpected  fluctuations  to  which 
the  revenue  is  subjected,  it  is  not  possible  to  compute  the 
receipts  beforehand  with  great  certainty ;  but  should  they 
not  differ  essentially  from  present  anticipations,  and  should 
the  appropriations  not  much  exceed  the  estimates,  no  dif 
ficulty  seems  likely  to  happen  in  defraying  the  current 
expenses  with  promptitude  and  fidelity. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  embarrassments  which  have 
recently  occurred  in  commercial  affairs,  and  the  liberal  in 
dulgence  which,  in  consequence  of  those  embarrassments, 
has  been  extended  to  both  the  merchants  and  the  banks, 
it  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  anticipate  that  the  treasury 
notes  which  have  been  issued  during  the  present  year 
will  be  redeemed,  and  that  the  resources  of  the  treas 
ury,  without  any  resort  to  loans  or  increased  taxes,  will 
prove  ample  for  defraying  all  charges  imposed  on  it 
during  1838. 

The  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  will  afford 
you  a  more  minute  exposition  of  all  matters  connected 
with  the  administration  of  the  finances  during  the  current 
year;  a  period  which,  for  the  amount  of  public  moneys 


disbursed  and  deposited  with  the  states,  as  well  as  the 
financial  difficulties  encountered  and  overcome,  has  few 
parallels  in  our  history. 

Your  attention  was,  at  the  last  session,  invited  to  the 
necessity  of  additional  legislative  provisions  in  respect  to 
the  collection,  safe-keeping,  and  transfer  of  the  public 
money.  No  law  having  been  then  matured,  and  not  un 
derstanding  the  proceedings  of  Congress  as  intended  to  be 
final,  it  becomes  my  duty  again  to  bring  the  subject  to 
your  notice. 

On  that  occasion,  three  modes  of  performing  this  branch 
of  the  public  service  were  presented  for  consideration. 
These  were,  the  creation  of  a  national  bank ;  the  revival, 
with  modifications,  of  the  deposit  system  established  by 
the  act  of  the  23d  June,  1836,  permitting  the  use  of  the 
public  moneys  by  the  banks ;  and  the  discontinuance  of 
the  use  of  such  institutions  for  the  purposes  referred  to, 
with  suitable  provisions  for  their  accomplishment  through 
the  agency  of  public  officers.  Considering  the  opinions 
of  both  houses  of  Congress  on  the  two  first  propositions  as 
expressed  in  the  negative,  in  which  I  entirely  concur,  it  is 
unnecessary  for  me  again  to  recur  to  them.  In  respect  to 
the  last,  you  have  had  an  opportunity,  since  your  adjourn 
ment,  not  only  to  test  still  further  the  expediency  of  the 
measure,  by  the  continued  practical  operation  of  such 
parts  of  it  as  are  now  in  force,  but  also  to  discover  — 
what  should  ever  be  sought  for  and  regarded  with  the 
utmost  deference  —  the  opinions  and  wishes  of  the  people. 

The  national  will  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  republic, 
and,  on  all  subjects  within  the  limits  of  its  constitutional 
powers,  should  be  faithfully  obeyed  by  the  public  servant. 
Since  the  measure  in  question  was  submitted  to  your  con 
sideration,  most  of  you  have  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  per 
sonal  communication  with  your  constituents.  For  one 
state  only  has  an  election  been  held  for  the  federal  gov 
ernment;  but  the  early  day  at  which  it  took  place,  de 
prives  the  measure  under  consideration  of  much  of  the 
support  it  might  otherwise  have  derived  from  the  result. 
Local  elections  for  state  officers  have,  however,  been  held 
in  several  of  the  states,  at  which  the  expediency  of  the 
plan  proposed  by  the  executive  has  been  more  or  less  dis- 


214  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

cussed.  You  will,  I  am  confident,  yield  to  their  results 
the  respect  due  to  every  expression  of  the  public  voice. 
Desiring,  however,  to  arrive  at  truth  and  a  just  view  of 
the  subject  in  all  its  bearings,  you  'will  at  the  same  time 
remember,  that  questions  of  far  deeper  and  more  imme 
diate  local  interest  than  the  fiscal  plans  of  the  national 
treasury  were  involved  in  those  elections. 

Above  all,  we  cannot  overlook  the  striking  fact,  that 
there  were,  at  the  time,  in  those  states,  more  than  one 
hundred  arid  sixty  millions  of  bank  capital,  of  which  large 
portions  were  subject  to  actual  forfeiture  —  other  large 
portions  upheld  only  by  special  and  limited  legislative  in 
dulgences  —  and  most  of  it,  if  not  all,  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  dependent  for  a  continuance  of  its  corporate  ex 
istence  upon  the  will  of  the  state  legislatures  to  be  then 
chosen.  Apprized  of  this  circumstance,  you  will  judge 
whether  it  is  not  most  probable  that  the  peculiar  con 
dition  of  that  vast  interest  in  these  respects,  the  extent  to 
which  it  has  been  spread  through  all  the  ramifications 
of  society,  its  direct  connection  with  the  then  pending 
elections,  and  the  feelings  it  was  calculated  to  infuse  into 
the  canvass,  have  not  exercised  a  far  greater  influence 
over  the  result  than  any  which  could  possibly  have  been 
produced  by  a  conflict  of  opinion  in  respect  to  a  question 
in  the  administration  of  the  general  government,  more 
remote  and  far  less  important  in  its  bearings  upon  that 
interest. 

I  have  found  no  reason  to  change  my  own  opinion  as 
to  the  expediency  of  adopting  the  system  proposed,  being 
perfectly  satisfied  that  there  will  be  neither  stability  nor 
safety,  either  in  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the  government,  or  in 
the  pecuniary  transactions  of  individuals  and  corporations, 
so  long  as  a  connection  exists  between  them,  which,  like 
the  past,  offers  such  strong  inducements  to  make  them 
the  subjects  of  political  agitation.  Indeed,  I  am  more 
than  ever  convinced  of  the  dangers  to  which  the  free 
and  unbiased  exercise  of  political  opinion  —  the  only  sure 
foundation  and  safeguard  of  republican  government  — 
would  be  exposed  by  any  further  increase  of  the  already 
overgrown  influence  of  corporate  authorities.  I  cannot, 
therefore,  consistently  with  my  views  of  duty,  advise  a 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.        215 

renewal  of  a  connection  which  circumstances  have  dis 
solved. 

The  discontinuance  of  the  use  of  state  banks  for  fiscal 
purposes  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  measure  of  hos 
tility  towards  these  institutions.  Banks  properly  estab 
lished  and  conducted  are  highly  useful  to  the  business  of 
the  country,  and  doubtless  will  continue  to  exist  in  the 
states  so  long  as  they  conform  to  their  laws,  and  are 
found  to  be  safe  and  beneficial.  How  they  should  be 
created,  what  privileges  they  should  enjoy,  under  what 
responsibilities  they  should  act,  and  to  what  restrictions 
they  should  be  subject,  are  questions  which,  as  I  observed 
on  a  previous  occasion,  belong  to  the  states  to  decide. 
Upon  their  rights,  or  the  exercise  of  them,  the  general 
government  can  have  no  motive  to  encroach.  Its  duty 
toward  them  is  well  performed,  when  it  refrains  from 
legislating  for  their  special  benefit,  because  such  legisla 
tion  would  violate  the  spirit  of  the  constitution,  and  be 
unjust  to  other  interests ;  when  it  takes  no  steps  to  impair 
their  usefulness,  but  so  manages  its  own  affairs  as  to 
make  it  the  interest  of  those  institutions  to  strengthen  and 
improve  their  condition  for  the  security  and  welfare  of  the 
community  at  large.  They  have  no  right  to  insist  on  a 
connection  with  the  federal  government,  nor  on  the  use 
of  the  public  money  for  their  own  benefit. 

The  object  of  the  measure  under  consideration  is,  to 
avoid  for  the  future  a  compulsory  connection  of  this  kind. 
It  proposes  to  place  the  general  government,  in  regard 
to  the  essential  points  of  the  collection,  safe-keeping,  and 
transfer  of  the  public  money,  in  a  situation  which  shall 
relieve  it  from  all  dependence  on  the  will  of  irresponsible 
individuals  or  corporations  ;  to  withdraw  those  moneys 
from  the  uses  of  private  trade,  and  confine  them  to  agents 
constitutionally  selected  and  controlled  by  law ;  to  abstain 
from  improper  interference  with  the  industry  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  withhold  inducements  to  improvident  dealings 
on  the  part  of  individuals  ;  to  give  stability  to  the  con 
cerns  of  the  treasury  ;  to  preserve  the  measures  of  the 
government  from  the  unavoidable  reproaches  that  flow 
from  such  a  connection,  and  the  banks  themselves  from 
the  injurious  effects  of  a  supposed  participation  in  the 


216  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

political  conflicts  of  the  day,  from  which  they  will  other 
wise  find  it  difficult  to  escape. 

These  are  my  views  upon  this  important  subject ;  formed 
after  careful  reflection,  and  with  no  desire  but  to  arrive  at 
what  is  most  likely  to  promote  the  public  interest.  They 
are  now,  as  they  were  before,  submitted  with  an  unfeigned 
deference  for  the  opinions  of  others.  It  was  hardly  to  be 
hoped  that  changes  so  important,  on  a  subject  so  interest 
ing,  could  be  made  without  producing  a  serious  diversity 
of  opinion;  but  so  long  as  those  conflicting  views  are 
kept  above  the  influence  of  individual  or  local  interests ; 
so  long  as  they  pursue  only  the  general  good,  and  are  dis 
cussed  with  moderation  and  candor,  such  diversity  is  a 
benefit,  not  an  injury.  If  a  majority  of  Congress  see  the 
public  welfare  in  a  different  light,  and  more  especially  if 
they  should  be  satisfied  that  the  measure  proposed  would 
not  be  acceptable  to  the  people,  I  shall  look  to  their  wis 
dom  to  substitute  such  as  may  be  more  conducive  to  the 
one,  and  more  satisfactory  to  the  other.  In  any  event, 
they  may  confidently  rely  on  my  hearty  cooperation  to 
the  fullest  extent  which  my  views  of  the  constitution  and 
my  sense  of  duty  will  permit. 

It  is  obviously  important  to  this  branch  of  the  public 
service,  and  to  the  business  and  quiet  of  the  country,  that 
the  whole  subject  should  in  some  way  be  settled  and  regu 
lated  by  law;  and,  if  possible,  at  your  present  session. 
Besides  the  plan  above  referred  to,  I  am  not  aware  that 
any  one  has  been  suggested,  except  that  of  keeping  the 
public  money  in  the  state  banks,  in  special  deposit.  This 
plan  is,  to  some  extent,  in  accordance  with  the  practice 
of  the  government,  and  which,  except,  perhaps,  during 
the  operation  of  the  late  deposit  act,  has  always  been 
allowed,  even  during  the  existence  of  a  national  bank,  to 
make  a  temporary  use  of  the  state  banks,  in  particular 
places,  for  the  safe-keeping  of  portions  of  the  revenue. 

This  discretionary  power  might  be  continued,  if  Con 
gress  deem  it  desirable,  whatever  general  system  may 
be  adopted.  So  long  as  the  connection  is  voluntary,  we 
need,  perhaps,  anticipate  few  of  those  difficulties,  and  little 
of  that  dependence  on  the  banks,  which  must  attend  every 
such  connection  when  compulsory  in  its  nature,  and  when 


VAN    BUREN's    FIRST    ANNUAL    MESSAGE.          217 

so  arranged  as  to  make  the  banks  a  fixed  part  of  the  ma 
chinery  of  government.  It  is  undoubtedly  in  the  power 
of  Congress  so  to  regulate  and  guard  it  as  to  prevent  the 
public  money  from  being  applied  to  the  use,  or  intermin 
gled  with  the  affairs,  of  individuals.  Thus  arranged, 
although  it  would  not  give  to  the  government  that  control 
over  its  own  funds  which  I  desire  to  secure  to  it  by  the 
plan  I  have  proposed,  it  would,  it  must  be  admitted,  in  a 
great  degree,  accomplish  one  of  the  objects  which  has 
recommended  that  plan  to  my  judgment  —  the  separation 
of  the  fiscal  concerns  of  the  government  from  those  of 
individuals  or  corporations. 

With  these  observations,  I  recommend  the  whole  mat 
ter  to  your  dispassionate  reflection ;  confidently  hoping 
that  some  conclusion  may  be  reached  by  your  delibera 
tions,  which,  on  the  one  hand,  shall  give  stability  to  the 
fiscal  operations  of  the  government,  and  be  consistent, 
on  the  other,  with  the  genius  of  our  institutions,  and  with 
the  interests  and  wishes  of  the  great  mass  of  our  con 
stituents. 

It  was  my  hope  that  nothing  would  occur  to  make 
necessary,  on  this  occasion,  any  allusion  to  the  late  national 
bank.  There  are  circumstances,  however,  connected  with 
the  present  state  of  its  affairs,  that  bear  so  directly  on  the 
character  of  the  government  and  the  welfare  of  the  citi 
zen,  that  I  should  not  feel  myself  excused  in  neglecting 
to  notice  them.  The  charter  which  terminated  its  bank 
ing  privileges  on  the  4th  of  March,  1836,  continued  its 
corporate  powers  two  years  more,  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
closing  its  affairs,  with  authority  "  to  use  the  corporate 
name,  style,  and  capacity,  for  the  purpose  of  suits,  for  a 
final  settlement  and  liquidation  of  the  affairs  and  acts  of 
the  corporation,  and  for  the  sale  and  disposition  of  their 
estate,  real,  personal,  and  mixed,  but  for  no  other  purpose, 
or  in  any  other  manner  whatsoever."  Just  before  the 
banking  privileges  ceased,  its  effects  were  transferred  by 
the  bank  to  a  new  state  institution,  then  recently  incor 
porated,  in  trust,  for  the  discharge  of  its  debts  and  the 
settlement  of  its  affairs. 

With  this  trustee,  by  authority  of  Congress,  an  adjust 
ment  was  subsequently  made  of  the  large  interest  which 
19 


218  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  government  had  in  the  stock  of  the  institution.  The 
manner  in  which  a  trust  unexpectedly  created  upon  the 
act  granting  the  charter,  and  involving  such  great  public 
interests,  has  been  executed,  would,  under  any  circum 
stances,  be  a  fit  subject  of  inquiry  ;  but  much  more  does  it 
deserve  your  attention  when  it  embraces  the  redemption 
of  obligations  to  which  the  authority  and  credit  of  the 
United  States  have  given  value.  The  two  years  allowed 
are  now  nearly  at  an  end.  It  is  well  understood  that  the 
trustee  has  not  redeemed  and  cancelled  the  outstanding 
notes  of  the  bank,  but  has  re-issued,  and  is  continually  re 
issuing,  since  the  3d  of  March,  1836,  the  notes  which  have 
been  received  by  it  to  a  vast  amount. 

According  to  its  own  official  statement,  so  late  as  the 
1st  of  October  last,  nineteen  months  after  .he  banking 
privileges  given  by  the  charter  had  expired,  it  had  under 
its  control  uncancelled  notes  of  the  late  Bank  of  the  United 
States  to  the  amount  of  twenty-seven  millions  five  hundred 
and  sixty-one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-six  dollars, 
of  which  six  millions  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-one  dollars  were  in  actual 
circulation,  one  million  four  hundred  and  sixty-eight 
thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty-seven  dollars  at  state 
bank  agencies,  and  three  millions  two  thousand  three 
hundred  and  ninety  dollars  in  transitu ;  thus  showing  that 
upwards  often  millions  and  a  haif  of  the  notes  of  the  old 
bank  were  then  still  kept  outstanding. 

The  impropriety  of  this  procedure  is  obvious  ;  it  being 
the  duty  of  the  trustee  to  cancel,  and  not  to  put  forth,  the 
notes  of  an  institution  whose  concerns  it  had  undertaken 
to  wind  up.  If  the  trustee  has  a  right  to  re-issue  these 
notes  now,  I  can  see  no  reason  why  he  may  not  continue  to 
do  so  after  the  expiration  of  the  two  years.  As  no  one 
could  have  anticipated  a  course  so  extraordinary,  the  pro 
hibitory  clause  of  the  charter  above  quoted  was  not  ac 
companied  by  any  penalty  or  other  special  provision  for 
enforcing  it ;  nor  have  we  any  general  law  for  the  pre 
vention  of  similar  acts  in  future. 

But  it  is  not  in  this  view  of  the  subject  alone  that  your 
interposition  is  required.  The  United  States,  in  settling 
with  the  trustee  for  their  stock,  have  withdrawn  their 


funds  from  their  former  direct  liability  to  the  creditors  of 
the  old  bank;  yet  notes  of  the  institution  continue  to  be 
sent  forth  in  its  name,  and  apparently  upon  the  authority 
of  the  United  States.  The  transactions  connected  with 
the  employment  of  the  bills  of  the  old  bank  are  of  vast 
extent ;  and  should  they  result  unfortunately,  the  interests 
of  individuals  may  be  deeply  compromised.  Without  un 
dertaking  to  decide  how  far,  or  in  what  form,  if  any,  the 
trustee  could  be  made  liable  for  notes  which  contain  no 
obligation  on  his  part ;  or  the  old  bank,  for  such  as  are 
put  in  circulation  after  the  expiration  of  its  charter,  and 
without  its  authority ;  or  the  government  for  indemnity  in 
case  of  loss,  the  question  still  presses  itself  upon  your  con 
sideration,  whether  it  is  consistent  with  duty  and  good 
faith  on  the  part  of  the  government,  to  witness  this  pro 
ceeding  without  a  single  effort  to  arrest  it. 

The  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land 
Office,  which  will  be  laid  before  you  by  the  secretary  of 
the  treasury,  will  show  how  the  affairs  of  that  office  have 
been  conducted  for  the  past  year.  The  disposition  of  the 
public  lands  is  one  of  the  most  important  trusts  confided 
to  Congress.  The  practicability  of  retaining  the  title  and 
control  of  such  extensive  domains  in  the  general  govern 
ment,  and  at  the  same  time  admitting  the  territories  em 
bracing  them  into  the  federal  Union,  as  coequal  with  the 
original  states,  was  seriously  doubted  by  many  of  our 
wisest  statesmen.  All  feared  that  they  would  become  a 
source  of  discord,  and  many  carried  their  apprehensions 
so  far  as  to  see  in  them  the  seeds  of  a  future  dissolution 
of  the  confederacy.  But  happily  our  experience  has  al 
ready  been  sufficient  to  quiet,  in  a  great  degree,  all  such 
apprehensions.  The  position,  at  one  time  assumed,  that 
the  admission  of  new  states  into  the  Union  on  the  same 
footing  with  the  original  states,  was  incompatible  with  a 
right  of  soil  in  the  United  States,  and  operated  as  a  sur 
render  thereof,  notwithstanding  the  terms  of  the  compacts 
by  which  their  admission  was  designed  to  be  regulated, — 
has  been  wisely  abandoned. 

Whether  in  the  new  or  the  old  states,  all  now  agree  that 
the  right  of  soil  to  the  public  lands  remains  in  the  federal 
government,  and  that  these  lands  constitute  a  common 


220  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

property,  to  be  disposed  of  for  the  common  benefit  of  all 
the  states,  old  and  new.  Acquiescence  in  this  just  princi 
ple  by  the  people  of  the  new  states  has  naturally  promoted 
a  disposition  to  adopt  the  most  liberal  policy  in  the  sale  of 
the  public  lands.  A  policy  which  should  be  limited  to 
the  mere  object  of  selling  the  lands  for  the  greatest  pos 
sible  sum  of  money,  without  regard  to  higher  considera 
tions,  finds  but  few  advocates.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
generally  conceded,  that,  while  the  mode  of  disposition 
adopted  by  the  government  should  always  be  a  prudent 
one,  yet  its  leading  object  ought  to  be  the  early  settlement 
and  cultivation  of  the  lands  sold ;  and  that  it  should  dis 
countenance,  if  it  cannot  prevent,  the  accumulation  of 
large  tracts  in  the  same  hands,  which  must  necessarily  re 
tard  the  growth  of  the  new  states,  or  entail  upon  them  a 
dependent  territory  and  its  attendant  evils. 

A  question  embracing  such  important  interests,  and  so 
well  calculated  to  enlist  the  feelings  of  the  people  in  every 
quarter  of  the  Union,  has  very  naturally  given  rise  to 
numerous  plans  for  the  improvement  of  the  existing  sys 
tem.  The  distinctive  features  of  the  policy  that  has  hither 
to  prevailed,  are,  to  dispose  of  the  public  lands  at  mod 
erate  prices,  thus  enabling  a  greater  number  to  enter  into 
competition  for  their  purchase,  and  accomplishing  a  dou 
ble  object  of  promoting  their  rapid  settlement  by  the  pur 
chasers,  and  at  the  same  time  increasing  the  receipts  of  the 
treasury  ;  to  sell  for  cash,  thereby  preventing  the  disturb 
ing  influence  of  a  large  mass  of  private  citizens  indebted 
to  the  government  which  they  have  a  voice  in  controlling ; 
to  bring  them  into  the  market  no  faster  than  good  lands 
are  supposed  to  be  wanted  for  improvements,  thereby  pre 
venting  the  accumulation  of  large  tracts  in  few  hands;  and 
to  apply  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  to  the  general  purposes 
of  the  government ;  thus  diminishing  the  amount  to  be 
raised  from  the  people  of  the  states  by  taxation,  and  giving 
each  state  its  portion  of  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from 
this  common  fund  in  a  manner  the  most  quiet,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  perhaps,  the  most  equitable  that  can  be 
devised. 

These  provisions,, with  occasional  enactments  in  behalf 
of  special  interests  deemed  entitled  to  the  favor  of  govern- 


ANNUAL    MESSAGE.          221 

ment,  have,  in  their  execution,  produced  results  as  bene 
ficial,  upon  the  whole,  as  could  reasonably  be  expected  in  a 
matter  so  vast,  so  complicated,  arid  so  exciting.  Upwards 
of  seventy  millions  of  acres  have  been  sold,  the  greater 
part  of  which  is  believed  to  have  been  purchased  for  actual 
settlement.  The  population  of  the  new  states  and  territo 
ries  created  out  of  the  public  domain,  increased,  between 
1800  and  1830,  from  less  than  sixty  thousand,  to  upwards 
of  two  millions  three  hundred  thousand  souls,  constituting, 
at  the  latter  period,  about  one  fifth  of  the  whole  people 
of  the  United  States.  The  increase  since  cannot  be  ac 
curately  known,  but  the  whole  may  now  be  safely  estimated 
at  over  three  and  a  half  millions  of  souls ;  composing  nine 
states,  the  representatives  of  which  constitute  above  one 
third  of  the  Senate,  and  over  one  sixth  of  the  House  of 
the  Representatives  of  the  United  States. 

Thus  has  been  formed  a  body  of  free  and  independent 
landholders,  with  a  rapidity  unequalled  in  the  history  of 
mankind ;  and  this  great  result  has  been  produced  without 
leaving  any  thing  for  future  adjustment  between  the  gov 
ernment  and  its  citizens.  The  system  under  which  so 
much  has  been  accomplished  cannot  be  intrinsically  bad, 
and  with  occasional  modifications,  to  correct  abuses,  and 
to  adapt  it  to  changes  of  circumstances,  may,  I  think,  be 
safely  trusted  for  the  future.  There  is  in  the  management 
of  such  extensive  interests,  much  virtue  in  stability ;  and 
although  great  and  obvious  improvements  should  not  be 
declined,  changes  should  never  be  made  without  the  full 
est  examination,  and  the  clearest  demonstration  of  their 
practical  utility. 

In  the  history  of  the  past,  we  have  an  assurance  that  this 
safe  rule  of  action  will  not  be  departed  from  in  relation  to 
the  public  lands  ;  nor  is  it  believed  that  any  necessity  exists 
for  interfering  with  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  sys 
tem,  or  that  the  public  mind,  even  in  the  new  states,  is 
desirous  of  any  radical  alterations.  On  the  contrary,  the 
general  disposition  appears  to  be,  to  make  such  modifications 
and  additions  only  as  will  more  effectually  carry  out  the 
original  policy  of  filling  our  new  states  and  territories  with 
an  industrious  and  independent  population. 

The  modification  most  perseveringly  pressed  upon  Con- 
19* 


222  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

gress,  which  has  occupied  so  much  of  its  time  for  years 
past,  and  will  probably  do  so  for  a  long  time  to  come,  if 
not  sooner  satisfactorily  adjusted,  is  a  reduction  in  the  cost 
of  such  portions  of  the  public  lands  as  are  ascertained  to 
be  unsalable  at  the  rate  now  established  by  law,  and  a 
graduation,  according  to  their  relative  value,  of  the  prices 
at  which  they  may  hereafter  be  sold.  It  is  worthy  of  con 
sideration  whether  justice  may  not  be  done  to  every  inter 
est  in  this  matter,  and  a  vexed  question  set  at  rest,  perhaps 
forever,  by  a  reasonable  compromise  of  conflicting  opinions. 
Hitherto,  after  being  offered  at  public  sale,  lands  have  been 
disposed  of  at  one  uniform  price,  whatever  difference  there 
might  be  in  their  intrinsic  value. 

The  leading  considerations  urged  in  favor  of  the  measure 
referred  to,  are,  that  in  almost  all  the  land  districts,  and 
particularly  in  those  in  which  the  lands  have  been  long 
surveyed  and  exposed  to  sale,  there  are  still  remaining  nu 
merous  and  large  tracts  of  every  gradation  of  value,  from 
the  government  price  downward ;  that  these  lands  will  not 
be  purchased  at  the  government  price,  so  long  as  better 
can  be  conveniently  obtained  for  the  same  amount ;  that 
there  are  large  tracts  which  even  the  improvements  of  the 
adjacent  lands  will  never  raise  to  that  price,  and  that  the 
present  uniform  price,  combined  with  their  irregular  value, 
operates  to  prevent  a  desirable  compactness  of  settlement 
in  the  new  states,  and  to  retard  the  full  development  of 
that  wise  policy  on  which  our  land  system  is  founded,  to 
the  injury  not  only  of  the  several  states  where  the  lands 
lie,  but  of  the  United  States  as  a  whole. 

The  remedy  proposed  has  been  a  reduction  in  prices 
according  to  the  length  of  time  the  lands  have  been  in 
the  market,  without  reference  to  any  other  circumstances. 
The  certainty  that  the  efflux  of  time  would  not  always  in 
such  cases,  and  perhaps  not  even  generally,  furnish  a  true 
criterion  of  value,  and  the  probability  that  persons  residing 
in  the  vicinity,  as  the  period  for  the  reduction  of  prices 
approached,  would  postpone  purchases  they  would  other 
wise  make,  for  the  purpose  of  availing  themselves  of  the 
lower  price,  with  other  considerations  of  a  similar  char 
acter,  have  hitherto  been  successfully  urged  to  defeat  the 
graduation  upon  time. 


223 

May  not  all  reasonable  desires  upon  this  subject  be  sat 
isfied  without  encountering  any  of  these  objections  ?  All 
will  concede  the  abstract  principle,  that  the  price  of  the 
public  lands  should  be  proportioned  to  their  relative  value, 
so  far  as  that  can  be  accomplished  without  departing  from 
the  rule  heretofore  observed,  requiring  fixed  prices  in  cases 
of  private  entries.  The  difficulty  of  the  subject  seems  to 
lie  in  the  mode  of  ascertaining  what  that  value  is.  Would 
not  the  safest  plan  be  that  which  has  been  adopted  by  many 
of  the  states  as  to  the  basis  of  taxation  —  an  actual 
valuation  of  lands  and  classification  of  them  into  differ 
ent  rates? 

Would  it  not  be  practicable  and  expedient  to  cause  the 
relative  value  of  the  public  lands  in  the  old  districts,  which 
have  been  for  a  certain  length  of  time  in  market,  to  be  ap 
praised  and  classed  into  two  or  more  rates  below  the  pres 
ent  minimum  price,  by  the  officers  now  employed  in  this 
branch  of  the  public  service,  or  in  any  other  mode  deemed 
preferable,  and  to  make  those  prices  permanent,  if,  upon 
the  coming  in  of  the  report,  they  shall  prove  satisfactory  to 
Congress  1  Cannot  all  the  objects  of  graduation  be  ac 
complished  in  this  way,  and  the  objections  which  have 
hitherto  been  urged  against,  it  avoided  ?  It  would  seem 
to  me  that  such  a  step,  with  a  restriction  of  the  sales  to 
limited  quantities,  and  for  actual  improvement,  would  be 
free  from  all  just  exceptions. 

By  the  full  exposition  of  the  value  of  the  lands  thus 
furnished  and  extensively  promulgated,  persons  living  at 
a  distance  would  be  informed  of  their  true  condition,  and 
enabled  to  enter  into  competition  with  those  residing  in 
the  vicinity ;  the  means  of  acquiring  an  independent  home 
would  be  brought  within  the  reach  of  many  who  are  unable 
to  purchase  at  present  prices ;  the  population  of  the  new 
states  would  be  more  compact,  and  large  tracts  would  be 
sold  which  would  otherwise  remain  on  hand;  not  only 
would  the  land  be  brought  within  the  means  of  a  large 
number  of  purchasers,  but  many  persons  possessed  of 
greater  means  would  be  content  to  settle  on  a  larger  quan 
tity  of  the  poorer  lands,  rather  than  emigrate  farther  west  in 
pursuit  of  a  smaller  quantity  of  better  lands. 

Such  a  measure  would  also  seem  to  be  more  consistent 


224  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

with  the  policy  of  the  existing  laws  —  that  of  converting 
the  public  domain  into  cultivated  farms  owned  by  their 
occupants.  That  policy  is  not  best  promoted  by  sending 
emigration  up  the  almost  interminable  streams  of  the  west, 
to  occupy  in  groups  the  best  spots  of  land,  leaving  im 
mense  wastes  behind  them,  and  enlarging  the  frontier  be 
yond  the  means  of  the  government  to  afford  it  adequate 
protection  ;  but  in  encouraging  it  to  occupy,  with  reason 
able  denseness,  the  territory  over  which  it  advances,  and 
find  its  best  defence  in  the  compact  front  which  it  presents 
to  the  Indian  tribes.  Many  of  you  will  bring  to  the  con 
sideration  of  the  subject  the  advantage  of  local  knowledge 
and  greater  experience,  and  all  will  be  desirous  of  making 
an  early  and  final  disposition  of  every  disturbing  question 
in  regard  to  this  important  interest.  If  these  suggestions 
shall  in  any  degree  contribute  to  the  accomplishment  of 
so  important  a  result,  it  will  afford  me  sincere  satisfaction. 

In  some  sections  of  the  country,  most  of  the  public  lands 
have  been  sold,  and  the  registers  and  receivers  have  littlti 
to  do.  It  is  a  subject  worthy  of  inquiry  whether,  in  many 
cases,  two  or  more  districts  might  not  be  consolidated,  and 
the  number  of  persons  employed  in  this  business  consider 
ably  reduced.  Indeed,  the  time  will  come,  when  it  will  be 
the  true  policy  of  the  general  government,  as  to  some  of 
the  states,  to  transfer  to  them,  for  a  reasonable  equivalent, 
all  the  refuse  and  unsold  lands,  and  to  withdraw  the 
machinery  of  the  federal  land-offices  altogether.  All  who 
take  a  comprehensive  view  of  our  federal  system,  and  be 
lieve  that  one  of  its  greatest  excellences  consists  in  inter 
fering  as  little  as  possible  with  the  internal  concerns  of  the 
states,  look  forward  with  great  interest  to  this  result. 

A  modification  of  the  existing  laws  in  respect  to  the 
prices  of  the  public  lands,  might  also  have  a  favorable  in 
fluence  on  the  legislation  of  Congress,  in  relation  to  an 
other  branch  of  the  subject.  Many  who  have  not  the 
ability  to  buy  at  present  prices,  settle  on  those  lands,  with 
the  hope  of  acquiring  from  their  cultivation  the  means  of 
purchasing  under  preemption  laws,  from  time  to  time 
passed  by  Congress.  For  this  encroachment  on  the  rights 
of  the  United  States,  they  excuse  themselves  under  the 
plea  of  their  own  necessities ;  the  fact  that  they  dispossess 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.        225 

nobody,  and  only  enter  upon  the  waste  domain ;  that  they 
give  additional  value  to  the  public  lands  in  their  vicinity, 
and  their  intention  ultimately  to  pay  the  government  prices. 
So  much  weight  has  from  time  to  time  been  attached  to 
these  considerations,  that  Congress  have  passed  laws  giving 
actual  settlers  on  the  public  lands  a  right  of  preemption  to 
the  tracts  occupied  by  them,  at  the  minimum  price. 

These  laws  have  in  all  instances  been  retrospective  in 
their  operations ;  but  in  a  few  years  after  their  passage, 
crowds  of  new  settlers  have  been  found  on  the  public 
lands,  for  similar  reasons,  and  under  like  expectations, 
who  have  been  indulged  with  the  same  privilege.  This 
course  of  legislation  tends  to  impair  public  respect  for  the 
laws  of  the  country.  Either  the  laws  to  prevent  intrusion 
upon  the  "public  lands  should  be  executed,  or,  if  that 
should  be  impracticable  or  inexpedient,  they  should  be 
modified  or  repealed.  If  the  public  lands  are  to  be  con 
sidered  as  open  to  be  occupied  by  any,  they  should,  by 
law,  be  thrown  open  to  all. 

That  which  is  intended,  in  all  instances,  to  be  legalized, 
should  at  once  be  made  legal,  that  those  who  are  disposed 
to  conform  to  the  laws,  may  enjoy  at  least  equal  privileges 
with  those  who  are  not.  But  it  is  not  believed  to  be  the 
disposition  of  Congress  to  open  the  public  lands  to  occu 
pancy  without  regular  entries  and  payment  of  the  govern 
ment  price,  as  such  a  course  must  tend  to  worse  evils  than 
the  credit  system,  which  it  was  found  necessary  to  abolish. 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  to  be  the  part  of  wisdom  and 
sound  policy  to  remove,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  causes 
which  produce  intrusions  upon  the  public  lands,  and  then 
take  efficient  steps  to  prevent  them  in  future.  Would  any 
single  measure  be  so  effective  in  removing  all  plausible 
grounds  for  these  intrusions  as  the  graduation  of  price 
already  suggested  1  A  short  period  of  industry  and  econ 
omy  in  any  part  of  our  country  would  enable  the  poorest 
citizen  to  accumulate  the  means  to  buy  him  a  home  at  the 
lowest  prices,  and  leave  him  without  apology  for  settling 
on  lands  not  his  own.  If  he  did  not,  under  such  circum 
stances,  he  would  enlist  no  sympathy  in  his  favor ;  and  the 
laws  would  be  readily  executed  without  doing  violence  to 
public  opinion. 


226  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

A  large  portion  of  our  citizens  have  seated  themselves 
on  the  public  lands,  without  authority,  since  the  passage 
of  the  last  preemption  law,  and  now  ask  the  enactment  of 
another,  to  enable  them  to  retain  the  lands  occupied,  upon 
payment  of  the  minimum  government  price.  They  ask 
that  which  has  been  repeatedly  granted  before.  If  the 
future  may  be  judged  of  by  the  past,  little  harm  can  be  done 
to  the  interests  of  the  treasury  by  yielding  to  their  request. 
Upon  a  critical  examination,  it  is  found  that  the  lands  sold 
at  the  public  sales  since  the  introduction  of  cash  payments 
in  1820,  have  produced,  on  an  average,  the  net  revenue  of 
only  six  cents  on  an  acre  more  than  the  minimum  govern 
ment  price.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  future  sales 
will  be  more  productive.  The  government,  therefore,  has 
no  adequate  pecuniary  interest  to  induce  it  to  drive  those 
people  from  the  lands  they  occupy,  for  the  purpose  of  sell 
ing  them  to  others. 

Entertaining  these  views,  I  recommend  the  passage  of  a 
preemption  law  for  their  benefit,  in  connection  with  the 
preparatory  steps  towards  the  graduation  of  the  price  of 
the  public  lands,  and  further  and  more  effectual  provisions 
to  prevent  intrusions  hereafter.  Indulgence  to  those  who 
have  settled  on  these  lands  with  expectations  that  past 
legislation  would  be  made  a  rule  for  the  future,  and  at 
the  same  time  removing  the  most  plausible  ground  on 
which  intrusions  are  excused,  and  adopting  more  efficient 
means  to  prevent  them  hereafter,  appears  to  me  the  most 
judicious  disposition  which  can  be  made  of  this  difficult 
subject. 

The  limitations  and  restrictions  to  guard  against  abuses 
in  the  execution  of  the  preemption  law,  will  necessarily 
attract  the  attention  of  Congress;  but  under  no  circum 
stances  is  it  considered  expedient  to  authorize  floating 
claims  in  any  shape.  They  have  been  heretofore,  and  doubt 
less  would  be  hereafter,  most  prolific  sources  of  fraud  and 
oppression,  and  instead  of  operating  to  confer  the  favor  of 
the  government  on  industrious  settlers,  are  often  used  only 
to  minister  to  a  spirit  of  cupidity  at  the  expense  of  the  most 
meritorious  of  that  class. 

The  accompanying  report  of  the  secretary  of  war  will 
bring  to  your  view  the  state  of  the  army,  and  all  the  va- 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.        227 

rious  subjects  confided  to  the  superintendence  of  that 
officer. 

The  principal  part  of  the  army  has  been  concentrated  in 
Florida,  with  a  view  and  in  the  expectation  of  bringing  the 
war  in  that  territory  to  a  speedy  close.  The  necessity  of 
stripping  the  posts  on  the  maritime  and  inland  frontiers  of 
their  entire  garrisons,  for  the  purpose  of  assembling  in  the 
field  an  army  of  less  than  four  thousand  men,  would  seem 
to  indicate  the  necessity  of  increasing  our  regular  forces ; 
and  the  superior  efficiency,  as  well  as  greatly  diminished 
expense,  of  that  description  of  troops,  recommend  this 
measure  as  one  of  economy,  as  well  as  of  expediency.  I 
refer  to  the  report  for  the  reasons  which  have  induced  the 
secretary  of  war  to  urge  the  reorganization  and  enlarge 
ment  of  the  staff  of  the  army,  and  of  the  ordnance  corps, 
in  which  I  fully  concur. 

It  is  not,  however,  compatible  with  the  interest  of  the 
people  to  maintain,  in  time  of  peace,  a  regular  force  ad 
equate  to  the  defence  of  our  extensive  frontiers.  In  pe 
riods  of  danger  and  alarm,  we  must  rely  principally  upon 
a  well-organized  militia;  and  some  general  arrangement 
that  will  render  this  description  of  force  more  efficient,  has 
long  been  a  subject  of  anxious  solicitude.  It  was  recom 
mended  to  the  first  Congress  by  General  Washington,  and 
has  since  been  frequently  brought  to  your  notice,  and  re 
cently  its  importance  strongly  urged  by  my  immediate  pred 
ecessor. 

The  provision  in  the  constitution  that  renders  it  neces 
sary  to  adopt  a  uniform  system  of  organization  for  the 
militia  throughout  the  United  States,  presents  an  insur 
mountable  obstacle  to  an  efficient  arrangement  by  the 
classification  heretofore  proposed,  and  I  invite  your  atten 
tion  to  the  plan  which  will  be  submitted  by  the  secretary 
of  war,  for  the  organization  of  the  volunteer  corps,  and  the 
instruction  of  militia  officers,  as  more  simple  and  practica 
ble,  if  not  equally  advantageous,  as  a  general  arrangement 
of  the  whole  militia  of  the  United  States. 

A  moderate  increase  of  the  corps  both  of  military  and 
topographical  engineers,  has  been  more  than  once  recom 
mended  by  my  predecessor,  and  my  conviction  of  the  pro 
priety,  not  to  say  necessity,  of  the  measure,  in  order  to 


228  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

enable  them  to  perform  the  various  and  important  duties 
imposed  upon  them,  induces  me  to  repeat  the  recommen 
dation. 

The  Military  Academy  continues  to  answer  all  the 
purposes  of  its  establishment,  and  not  only  furnishes  well- 
educated  officers  of  the  army,  but  serves  to  diffuse  through 
out  the  mass  of  our  citizens,  individuals  possessed  of  mil 
itary  knowledge,  and  the  scientific  attainments  of  civil  and 
military  engineering.  At  present,  the  cadet  is  bound,  with 
the  consent  of  his  parents  or  guardians,  to  remain  in  ser 
vice  five  years  from  the  period  of  his  enlistment,  unless 
sooner  discharged,  thus  exacting  only  one  year's  service  in 
the  army  after  his  education  is  completed.  This  does  not 
appear  to  me  sufficient.  Government  ought  to  command 
for  a  longer  period  the  services  of  those  who  are  educated 
at  the  public  expense ;  and  I  recommend  that  the  term  of 
enlistment  be  extended  to  seven  years,  and  the  terms  of  the 
engagement  strictly  enforced. 

The  creation  of  a  national  foundery  for  cannon,  to  be 
common  to  the  service  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United 
States,  has  been  heretofore  recommended,  and  appears  to 
be  required,  in  order  to  place  our  ordnance  on  an  equal 
footing  with  that  of  other  countries,  and  to  enable  that 
branch  of  the  service  to  control  the  prices  of  those  arti 
cles,  and  graduate  the  supplies  to  the  wants  of  the  gov 
ernment,  as  well  as  to  regulate  their  quality  and  insure 
their  uniformity. 

The  same  reasons  induce  me  to  recommend  the  erection 
of  a  manufactory  of  gunpowder,  to  be  under  the  direction 
of  the  ordnance  office.  The  establishment  of  a  manufac 
tory  of  small  arms  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  upon 
the  plan  proposed  by  the  secretary  of  war,  will  contribute 
to  extend  throughout  that  country  the  improvements  which 
exist  in  establishments  of  a  similar  description  in  the  At 
lantic  states,  and  tend  to  a  much  more  economical  distri 
bution  of  the  armament  required  in  the  western  portion  of 
our  Union. 

The  system  of  removing  the  Indians  west  of  the  Mis 
sissippi,  commenced  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  1804,  has  been 
steadily  persevered  in  by  every  succeeding  President, 
and  may  be  considered  the  settled  policy  of  the  country. 


Unconnected  at  first  with  any  well-defined  system  for 
their  improvement,  the  inducements  held  out  to  the  In 
dians  were  confined  to  the  greater  abundance  of  game  to 
be  found  in  the  west ;  but  when  the  beneficial  effects  of 
their  removal  were  made  apparent,  a  more  philanthropic 
and  enlightened  policy  was  adopted,  in  purchasing  their 
lands  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Liberal  prices  were  given, 
and  provisions  inserted  in  all  the  treaties  with  them  for 
the  application  of  the  funds  they  received  in  exchange,  to 
such  purposes  as  were  best  calculated  to  promote  their 
present  welfare,  and  advance  their  future  civilization. 
These  measures  have  been  attended  thus  far  with  the 
happiest  results. 

It  will  be  seen,  by  referring  to  the  report  of  the  Com 
missioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  that  the  most  sanguine  expec 
tations  of  the  friends  and  promoters  of  this  system  have 
been  realized.  The  Choctaws,  Cherokees,  and  other 
tribes  that  first  emigrated  beyond  the  Mississippi,  have, 
for  the  most  part,  abandoned  the  hunter  state,  and  become 
cultivators  of  the  soil.  The  improvement  of  their  con 
dition  has  been  rapid,  and  it  is  believed  that  they  are 
now  fitted  to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  simple  form  of  gov 
ernment,  which  has  been  submitted  to  them,  and  received 
their  sanction ;  and  I  cannot  too  strongly  urge  this  sub 
ject  upon  the  attention  of  Congress. 

Stipulations  have  been  made  with  all  the  Indian  tribes 
to  remove  them  beyond  the  Mississippi,  except  with  the 
band  of  the  Wyandotts,  the  Six  Nations,  in  New  York, 
the  Menomonees,  Mandans,  and  Stockbridges,  in  Wis 
consin,  and  Miamies,  in  Indiana.  With  all  but  the  Me 
nomonees,  it  is  expected  that  arrangements  for  their  emi 
gration  will  be  completed  the  present  year.  The  resist 
ance  which  has  been  opposed  to  their  removal  by  some 
tribes,  even  after  treaties  had  been  made  with  them  to 
that  effect,  has  arisen  from  various  causes,  operating  dif 
ferently  on  each  of  them. 

In  most  instances,  they  have  been  instigated  to  resist 
ance  by  persons  to  whom  the  trade  with  them  and  the  ac 
quisition  of  their  annuities  were  important ;  and  in  some 
by  the  personal  influence  of  interested  chiefs.  These  ob 
stacles  must  be  overcome  ;  for  the  government  cannot 
20 


230  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

relinquish  the  execution  of  this  policy  without  sacrificing 
important  interests,  and  abandoning  the  tribes  remaining 
east  of  the  Mississippi  to  certain  destruction. 

The  decrease  in  numbers  of  the  tribes  within  the  limits 
of  the  states  and  territories  has  been  most  rapid.  If  they 
be  removed,  they  can  be  protected  from  those  associations 
and  evil  practices  which  exert  so  pernicious  and  destruc 
tive  an  influence  over  their  destinies.  They  can  be  in 
duced  to  labor,  and  to  acquire  property,  and  its  acquisition 
will  inspire  them  with  a  feeling  of  independence.  Their 
minds  can  be  cultivated,  and  they  can  be  taught  the  value 
of  salutary  and  uniform  laws,  and  be  made  sensible  of  the 
blessings  of  free  government,  and  capable  of  enjoying  its 
advantages. 

In  the  possession  of  property,  knowledge,  and  a  good 
government,  free  to  give  what  direction  they  please  to 
their  labor,  and  sharers  in  the  legislation  by  which  their 
persons  and  the  profits  of  their  industry  are  to  be  pro 
tected  and  secured,  they  will  have  an  ever-present  con 
viction  of  the  importance  of  union,  of  peace  among 
themselves,  and  of  the  preservation  of  amicable  relations 
with  us. 

The  interests  of  the  United  States  would  also  be  greatly 
promoted  by  freeing  the  relations  between  the  general  and 
state  governments  from  what  has  proved  a  most  embar 
rassing  encumbrance,  by  a  satisfactory  adjustment  of  con 
flicting  titles  to  lands,  caused  by  the  occupation  of  the 
Indians,  and  by  causing  the  resources  of  the  whole  coun 
try  to  be  developed  by  the  power  of  the  state  and  general 
governments,  and  improved  by  the  enterprise  of  a  white 
population. 

Intimately  connected  with  this  subject  is  the  obligation 
of  the  government  to  fulfil  its  treaty  stipulations,  and  to 
protect  the  Indians  thus  assembled  "  at  their  new  residence 
from  all  interruptions  and  disturbances  from  any  other 
tribes  or  nations  of  Indians,  or  from  any  other  person  or 
persons  whatsoever,"  and  the  equally  solemn  obligation  to 
guard  from  Indian  hostilities  its  own  border  settlements 
stretching  along  a  line  of  more  than  one  thousand  miles. 
To  enable  the  government  to  redeem  their  pledge  to  the 
Indians,  and  to  afford  adequate  protection  to  its  own  citi- 


zens,  will  require  the  continual  presence  of  a  considerable 
regular  force  on  the  frontiers,  and  the  establishment  of  a 
chain  of  permanent  posts.  Examinations  of  the  country 
are  now  making,  with  a  view  to  decide  on  the  most  suit 
able  points  for  the  erection  of  fortresses  and  other  works 
of  defence,  the  results  of  which  will  be  presented  to  you 
by  the  secretary  of  war  at  an  early  day,  together  with  a 
plan  for  the  effectual  protection  of  friendly  Indians,  and 
the  permanent  defence  of  the  frontier  states. 

By  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  navy,  herewith 
communicated,  it  appears  that  unremitted  exertions  have 
been  made  at  the  different  navy-yards,  to  carry  into  effect 
all  authorized  measures  for  the  extension  and  employment 
of  our  naval  force.  The  launching  and  preparation  of 
the  ship  of  the  line  Pennsylvania,  and  the  complete  repairs 
of  the  ships  of  the  line  Ohio,  Delaware,  and  Columbus, 
may  be  noticed,  as  forming  a  respectable  addition  to  this 
important  arm  of  our  national  defence.  Our  commerce 
and  navigation  have  received  increased  aid  and  protection 
during  the  present  year.  Our  squadrons  in  the  Pacific 
and  on  the  Brazilian  stations  have  been  much  increased, 
and  that  in  the  Mediterranean,  although  small,  is  adequate 
to  the  present  wants  of  our  commerce  in  that  sea.  Addi 
tions  have  been  made  to  our  squadron  on  the  West  India 
station,  where  the  large  force  under  Commodore  Dallas 
has  been  most  actively  and  efficiently  employed  in  protect 
ing  our  commerce,  in  preventing  the  importation  of  slaves, 
and  in  cooperating  with  the  officers  of  the  army  in  carry 
ing  on  the  war  in  Florida. 

The  satisfactory  condition  of  our  naval  force  abroad 
leaves  at  our  disposal  the  means  of  conveniently  providing 
for  a  home  squadron,  for  the  protection  of  commerce  upon 
our  extensive  coast.  The  amount  of  appropriations  re 
quired  for  such  a  squadron  will  be  found  in  the  general 
estimates  for  the  naval  service,  for  the  year  1838. 

The  naval  officers  engaged  upon  our  coast  survey,  have 
rendered  important  service  to  our  navigation.  The  dis 
covery  of  a  new  channel  into  the  harbor  of  New  York, 
through  which  our  largest  ships  may  pass  without  danger, 
must  afford  important  commercial  advantages  to  that  har 
bor,  and  add  greatly  to  its  value  as  a  naval  station.  The 


232  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

accurate  survey  of  George's  Shoals,  off  the  coast  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  lately  completed,  will  render  comparatively  safe 
a  navigation  hitherto  considered  dangerous. 

Considerable  additions  have  been  made  to  the  number 
of  captains,  commanders,  lieutenants,  surgeons,  and  assist 
ant  surgeons  in  the  navy.  These  additions  were  rendered 
necessary,  by  the  increased  number  of  vessels  put  in  com 
mission,  to  answer  the  exigencies  of  our  growing  commerce. 

Your  attention  is  respectfully  invited  to  the  various 
suggestions  of  the  secretary,  for  the  improvement  of  the 
naval  service. 

The  report  of  the  postmaster-general  exhibits  the  prog 
ress  and  condition  of  the  mail  service.  The  operations 
of  the  post-office  department  constitute  one  of  the  most 
active  elements  of  our  national  prosperity,  and  it  is  grati 
fying  to  observe  with  what  vigor  they  are  conducted. 
The  mail  routes  of  the  United  States  cover  an  extent  of 
about  one  hundred  and  forty-two  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  seventy-seven  miles,  having  been  increased  about 
thirty-seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  three  miles  within 
the  last  two  years. 

The  annual  mail  transportation  on  these  routes  is  about 
36,228,962  miles,  having  been  increased  about  10,359,476 
miles  within  the  same  period.  The  number  of  postoffices 
has  also  been  increased  from  10,770  to  12,099,  very  few 
of  which  receive  the  mails  less  than  once  a  week,  and  a 
large  portion  of  them  daily.  Contractors  and  postmasters 
in  general  are  represented  as  attending  to  their  duties  with 
most  commendable  zeal  and  fidelity. 

The  revenue  of  the  department  within  the  year  ending 
on  the  30th  of  June  last,  was  $4,137,066  59;  and  its  lia 
bilities  accruing  within  the  same  time,  were  $3,380,847  75. 
The  increase  of  revenue  over  that  of  the  preceding  year, 
was  $708,16641. 

For  many  interesting  details,  I  refer  you  to  the  report 
of  the  postmaster-general,  with  the  accompanying  paper. 
Your  particular  attention  is  invited  to  the  necessity  of 
providing  a  more  safe  and  convenient  building  for  the  ac 
commodation  of  the  department. 

I  lay  before  Congress  copies  of  reports,  submitted  in 
pursuance  of  a  call  made  by  me  upon  the  heads  of  depart- 


VAN  BUREN'S  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.       233 

ments,  for  such  suggestions  as  their  experience  might 
enable  them  to  make,  as  to  what  further  legislative  pro 
visions  may  be  advantageously  adopted  to  secure  the  faithful 
application  of  public  money  to  the  objects  for  which  they 
are  appropriated ;  to  prevent  their  misapplication  or  em 
bezzlement  by  those  intrusted  with  the  expenditure  of 
them ;  arid  generally  to  increase  the  security  of  the  gov 
ernment  against  losses  in  their  disbursement.  It  is  needless 
to  dilate  on  the  importance  of  providing  such  new  safe 
guards  as  are  within  the  power  of  legislation  to  promote 
these  ends  ;  and  I  have  little  to  add  to  the  recommendations 
submitted  in  the  accompanying  papers. 

By  law,  the  terms  of  service  of  our  most  important  col 
lecting  and  disbursing  officers  in  the  civil  departments,  are 
limited  to  four  years,  and  when  reappointed  their  bonds 
are  required  to  be  renewed.  The  safety  of  the  public  is 
much  increased  by  this  feature  of  the  law,  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  its  application  to  all  officers  intrusted  with  the 
collection  or  disbursement  of  the  public  money,  whatever 
may  be  the  tenure  of  their  offices,  would  be  equally  bene 
ficial.  I  therefore  recommend,  in  addition  to  such  of  the 
suggestions  presented  by  the  heads  of  department  as  you 
may  think  useful,  a  general  provision  that  all  officers  of 
the  army  or  navy,  or  in  the  civil  department,  intrusted  with 
the  receipt  or  payment  of  the  public  money,  and  whose 
term  of  service  is  either  unlimited  or  for  a  longer  time  than 
four  years,  be  required  to  give  bonds,  with  good  and  suffi 
cient  securities,  at  the  expiration  of  every  such  period. 

A  change  in  the  period  of  terminating  the  fiscal  year, 
from  the  1st  of  October  to  the  1st  of  April,  has  been 
frequently  recommended,  and  appears  to  be  desirable. 

The  distressing  casualties  in  steamboats,  which  have  so 
frequently  happened,  during  the  year,  seem  to  evince  the 
necessity  of  attempting  to  prevent  them  by  means  of  se 
vere  provisions  connected  with  their  custom-house  papers. 
This  subject  was  submitted  to  the  attention  of  Congress  by 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  in  his  last  annual  report,  and 
will  be  again  noticed  at  the  present  session,  with  addi 
tional  details.  It  will  doubtless  receive  that  early  and 
careful  consideration  which  its  pressing  importance  ap 
pears  to  require. 
20* 


234  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

Your  attention  has  heretofore  been  frequently  called  to 
the  affairs  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  I  should  not 
again  ask  it,  did  not  their  entire  dependence  on  Congress 
give  them  a  constant  claim  upon  its  notice.  Separated 
by  the  constitution  from  the  rest  of  the  Union,  limited  in 
extent,  and  aided  by  no  legislature  of  its  own,  it  would 
seem  to  be  a  spot  where  a  wise  and  uniform  system  of 
local  government  might  have  been  easily  adopted. 

This  district,  however,  unfortunately,  has  been  left  to 
linger  behind  the  rest  of  the  Union ;  its  codes,  civil  and 
criminal,  are  not  only  very  defective,  but  full  of  obsolete 
or  inconvenient  provisions ;  being  formed  of  portions  of 
two  states,  discrepancies  in  the  laws  prevail  in  different 
parts  of  the  territory,  small  as  it  is ;  and  although  it  was 
selected  as  the  seat  of  the  general  government,  the  site 
of  its  public  edifices,  the  depository  of  its  archives,  and 
the  residence  of  officers  intrusted  with  large  amounts  of 
public  property,  and  the  management  of  public  business, 
yet  it  has  never  been  subjected  to,  or  received,  that  spe 
cial  and  comprehensive  legislation  which  these  circum 
stances  peculiarly  demand. 

I  am  well  aware  of  the  various  subjects  of  greater  mag 
nitude  and  immediate  interest,  that  press  themselves  on 
the  consideration  of  Congress ;  but  I  believe  there  is  no 
one  that  appeals  more  directly  to  its  justice,  than  a  liberal 
and  even  generous  attention  to  the  interests  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  and  a  thorough  and  careful  revision  of  its 
local  government. 


HARRISON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. 

MARCH  4,  1841. 

CALLED  from  a  retirement  which  I  had  supposed  was 
to  continue  for  the  residue  of  my  life,  to  fill  the  chief  ex 
ecutive  office  of  this  great  and  free  nation,  I  appear  before 
you,  fellow-citizens,  to  take  the  oaths  which  the  constitu 
tion  prescribes  as  a  necessary  qualification  for  the  per 
formance  of  its  duties.  And  in  obedience  with  a  custom 


235 

coeval  with  our  government,  and  what  I  believe  to  be  your 
expectations,  I  proceed  to  present  to  you  a  summary  of 
the  principles  which  will  govern  me  in  the  discharge  of 
the  duties  which  I  shall  be  called  upon  to  perform. 

It  was  the  remark  of  a  Roman  consul,  in  an  early  pe 
riod  of  that  celebrated  republic,  that  a  most  striking  con 
trast  was  observable  in  the  conduct  of  candidates  for 
offices  of  power  and  trust,  before  and  after  obtaining  them 
—  they  seldom  carrying  out,  in  the  latter  case,  the  pledges 
and  promises  made  in  the  former.  However  much  the 
world  may  have  improved,  in  many  respects,  in  the  lapse 
of  upwards  of  two  thousand  years  since  the  remark  was 
made  by  the  virtuous  and  indignant  Roman,  I  fear  that  a 
strict  examination  of  the  annals  of  some  of  the  modern 
elective  governments  would  develop  similar  instances  of 
violated  confidence. 

Although  the  fiat  of  the  people  has  gone  forth,  pro 
claiming  me  the  chief  magistrate  of  this  glorious  Union, 
nothing  upon  their  part  remaining  to  be  done,  it  may  be 
thought  that  a  motive  may  exist  to  keep  up  the  delusion 
under  which  they  may  be  supposed  to  have  acted  in  rela 
tion  to  my  principles  and  opinions ;  and  perhaps  there 
may  be  some  in  this  assembly,  who  have  come  here  either 
prepared  to  condemn  those  I  shall  now  deliver,  or,  ap 
proving  them,  to  doubt  the  sincerity  with  which  they  are 
uttered.  But  the  lapse  of  a  few  months  will  confirm  or 
dispel  their  fears.  The  outline  of  principles  to  govern, 
and  measures  to  be  adopted  by  an  administration  not  yet 
begun,  will  soon  be  exchanged  for  immutable  history,  and 
I  shall  stand  either  exonerated  by  my  countrymen,  or 
classed  with  the  mass  of  those  who  promised  that  they 
might  deceive,  and  flattered  with  the  intention  to  betray. 

However  strong  may  be  my  present  purpose  to  realize 
the  expectations  of  a  magnanimous  and  confiding  people, 
I  too  well  understand  the  infirmities  of  human  nature,  and 
the  dangerous  temptations  to  which  I  shall  be  exposed, 
from  the  magnitude  of  the  power  which  it  has  been  the 
pleasure  of  the  people  to  commit  to  my  hands,  not  to  place 
my  chief  confidence  upon  the  aid  of  that  Almighty  Power 
which  has  hitherto  protected  me,  and  enabled  me  to  bring 


236  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

to  favorable  issues  other  important  but  still  greatly  inferior 
trusts  heretofore  confided  to  me  by  my  country. 

The  broad  foundation  upon  which  our  constitution  rests 
being  the  people  —  a  breath  of  theirs  having  made,  as  a 
breath  can  unmake,  change,  or  modify  it  —  it  can  be  as 
signed  to  none  of  the  great  divisions  of  government,  but 
to  that  of  democracy.  If  such  is  its  theory,  those  who 
are  called  upon  to  administer  it,  must  recognize,  as  its 
leading  principle,  the  duty  of  shaping  their  measures  so  as 
to  produce  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number.  But, 
with  these  broad  admissions,  if  we  would  compare  the 
sovereignty  acknowledged  to  exist  in  the  mass  of  the  peo 
ple  with  the  power  claimed  by  other  sovereignties,  even 
by  those  which  had  been  considered  most  purely  demo 
cratic,  we  shall  find  a  most  essential  difference.  All 
others  lay  claim  to  power  limited  only  by  their  own  will. 
The  majority  of  our  citizens,  on  the  contrary,  possess  a 
sovereignty,  with  an  amount  of  power  precisely  equal  to 
that  which  has  been  granted  to  them  by  the  parties  to  the 
national  compact,  and  nothing  beyond. 

We  admit  of  no  government  by  divine  right ;  believing 
that,  so  far  as  power  is  concerned,  the  beneficent  Creator 
has  made  no  distinction  among  men,  that  all  are  upon  an 
equality,  and  that  the  only  legitimate  right  to  govern  is 
an  express  grant  of  power  from  the  governed.  The  con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  is  the  instrument  containing 
this  grant  of  power  to  the  several  departments  composing 
the  government.  On  an  examination  of  that  instrument, 
it  will  be  found  to  contain  declarations  of  power  granted 
and  power  withheld.  The  latter  is  also  susceptible  of  di 
vision  into  power  which  the  majority  had  a  right  to  grant, 
but  which  they  did  not  think  proper  to  intrust  to  their 
agents,  and  that  which  they  could  not  have  granted,  not 
being  possessed  by  themselves.  In  other  words,  there  are 
certain  rights  possessed  by  each  individual  American  citi 
zen,  which,  in  his  compact  with  the  others,  he  has  never 
surrendered.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  he  is  unable  to  sur 
render,  being,  in  the  language  of  our  system,  inalienable. 

The  boasted  privilege  of  a  Roman  citizen  was  to  him 
a  shield  only  against  a  petty  provincial  ruler,  whilst  the 


237 

proud  democrat  of  Athens  could  console  himself  under  a 
sentence  of  death,  for  a  supposed  violation  of  national 
faith,  which  no  one  understood,  and  which  at  times  was 
the  subject  of  the  mockery  of  all,  or  banishment  from  his 
home,  his  family,  and  his  country,  with  or  without  an 
•  alleged  cause,  —  that  it  was  not  the  act  of  a  single  tyrant, 
or  hated  aristocracy,  but  of  his  assembled  countrymen. 
Far  different  is  the  power  of  our  sovereignty.  It  can 
interfere  with  no  man's  faith,  prescribe  forms  of  worship 
for  no  one's  observance,  inflict  no  punishment  but  after 
well-ascertained  guilt,  the  result  of  investigation  under 
forms  prescribed  by  the  constitution  itself.  These  pre 
cious  privileges,  and  those,  scarcely  less  important,  of 
giving  expression  to  his  thoughts  and  opinions,  either 
by  writing  or  speaking,  unrestrained  but  by  the  liability 
of  injury  to  others,  and  that  of  a  full  participation  in  all 
the  advantages  which  flow  from  the  government,  the 
acknowledged  property  of  all,  —  the  American  citizen  re 
ceives  from  no  charter  derived  from  his  fellow-man. 
He  claims  them,  because  he  is  himself  a  man,  fashioned 
by  the  same  almighty  hand  as  the  rest  of  his  species, 
and  entitled  to  the  same  blessings  with  which  He  has 
endowed  them. 

Notwithstanding  the  limited  sovereignty  possessed  by 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  the  restricted  grant 
of  power  to  the  government  which  they  have  adopted, 
enough  has  been  given  to  accomplish  all  the  objects  for 
which  it  was  created.  It  has  been  found  powerful  in 
war,  and,  hitherto,  justice  has  been  administered,  an  inti 
mate  union  effected,  domestic  tranquillity  preserved,  and 
personal  liberty  secured  to  the  citizen.  As  was  to  be  ex 
pected,  however,  from  the  defect  of  language,  and  the  ne 
cessarily  sententious  manner  in  which  the  constitution  is 
written,  disputes  have  arisen  as  to  the  amount  of  power 
which  it  has  actually  granted,  or  was  intended  to  grant. 
This  is  more  particularly  the  case  in  relation  to  that  part 
of  the  instrument  which  treats  of  the  legislative  branch ; 
and  not  only  as  regards  the  exercise  of  powers,  claimed 
under  a  general  clause,  giving  that  body  the  authority  to 
carry  into  effect  the  specified  powers,  but  in  relation  to 
the  latter  also.  It  is,  however,  consolatory  to  reflect  that 


238  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

most  of  the  instances  of  alleged  departure  from  the  letter 
or  spirit  of  the  constitution,  have  ultimately  received  the 
sanction  of  a  majority  of  the  people.  And  the  fact  that 
many  of  our  statesmen,  most  distinguished  for  talent  and 
patriotism,  have  been,  at  one  time  or  other  of  their  politi 
cal  career,  on  both  sides  of  each  of  the  most  warmly  dispu-. 
ted  questions,  forces  upon  us  the  inference  that  the  errors, 
if  errors  there  were,  are  attributable  to  the  intrinsic  diffi 
culty,  in  many  instances,  of  ascertaining  the  intention  of 
the  framers  of  the  constitution,  rather  than  the  influence 
of  any  sinister  or  unpatriotic  motives. 

But  the  great  danger  to  our  institutions  does  not  appear 
to  me  to  be  in  a  usurpation,  by  the  government,  of  power 
not  granted  by  the  people,  but  by  the  accumulation,  in  one 
of  the  departments,  of  that  which  was  assigned  to  others. 
Limited  as  are  the  powers  which  have  been  granted,  they 
are  sufficient  to  constitute  a  despotism,  if  concentrated  in 
one  of  the  departments.  This  danger  is  greatly  heightened, 
as  it  has  always  been  observable  that  men  are  less  jealous 
of  encroachments  of  one  department  upon  another  than 
upon  their  own  reserved  rights. 

When  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  first  came 
from  the  hands  of  the  convention  which  formed  it,  many 
of  the  sternest  republicans  of  the  day  were  alarmed  at  the 
extent  of  the  power  which  had  been  granted  to  the  federal 
government,  and  more  particularly  to  that  portion  wrhich 
had  been  assigned  to  the  executive  branch.  There  were 
in  it  features  which  appeared  not  to  be  in  harmony  with 
their  ideas  of  a  simple  representative  democracy  or  re 
public.  And  knowing  the  tendency  of  power  to  increase 
itself,  particularly  when  executed  by  a  single  individual, 
predictions  were  made  that,  at  no  very  remote  period, 
the  government  would  terminate  in  virtual  monarchy.  It 
would  not  become  me  to  say  that  the  fears  of  these  patriots 
have  been  already  realized.  But,  as  I  sincerely  believe  that 
the  tendency  of  measures  and  of  men's  opinions,  for  some 
years  past,  has  been  in  that  direction,  it  is,  I  conceive, 
strictly  proper  that  I  should  take  this  occasion  to  repeat 
the  assurances  I  have  heretofore  given,  of  my  determina 
tion  to  arrest  the  progress  of  that  tendency  if  it  really  ex 
ists,  and  restore  the  government  to  its  pristine  health  and 


HARRISON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  239 

vigor,  as  far  as  this  can  be  effected  by  any  legitimate  ex 
ercise  of  the  power  placed  in  my  hands. 

I  proceed  to  state,  in  as  summary  manner  as  I  can,  my 
opinion  of  the  sources  of  the  evils  which  have  been  so 
extensively  complained  of,  and  the  correctives  which 
may  be  applied.  Some  of  the  former  are  unquestionably 
to  be  found  in  the  defects  of  the  constitution ;  others,  in 
my  opinion,  are  attributable  to  a  misconstruction  of  some 
of  its  provisions.  Of  the  former  is  the  eligibility  of  the 
same  individual  to  a  second  term  of  the  presidency.  The 
sagacious  mind  of  Mr.  Jefferson  early  saw  and  lamented 
this  error,  and  attempts  have  been  made,  hitherto  without 
success,  to  apply  the  amendatory  power  of  the  states  to 
its  correction. 

As,  however,  one  mode  of  correction  is  in  the  power  of 
every  President,  and  consequently  in  mine,  it  would  be 
useless,  and  perhaps  invidious,  to  enumerate  the  evils  of 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  many  of  our  fellow-citizens,  this 
error  of  the  sages  who  framed  the  constitution  may  have 
been  the  source,  and  the  bitter  fruits  which  we  are  still 
to  gather  from  it,  if  it  continues  to  disfigure  our  system. 
It  may  be  observed,  however,  as  a  general  remark,  that 
republics  can  commit  no  greater  error  than  to  adopt  or 
continue  any  feature  in  their  systems  of  government 
which  may  be  calculated  to  create  or  increase  the  love  of 
power  in  the  bosoms  of  those  to  whom  necessity  obliges 
them  to  commit  the  management  of  their  affairs.  And 
surely  nothing  is  more  likely  to  produce  such  a  state  of 
mind  than  the  long  continuance  of  an  office  of  high  trust. 
Nothing  can  be  more  corrupting,  nothing  more  destructive 
to  all  those  nobler  feelings  which  belong  to  the  character 
of  a  devoted  republican  patriot.  When  this  corrupting 
passion  once  takes  possession  of  the  human  mind,  like  the 
love  of  gold,  it  becomes  insatiable.  It  is  the  never-dying 
worm  in  his  bosom,  grows  with  his  growth,  and  strengthens 
with  the  declining  years  of  its  victim.  If  this  is  true,  it  is 
the  part  of  wisdom  for  a  republic  to  limit  the  service  of 
that  officer,  at  least,  to  whom  she  has  intrusted  the  man 
agement  of  her  foreign  relations,  the  execution  of  her  laws, 
and  the  command  of  her  armies  and  navies,  to  a  period  so 
short  as  to  prevent  his  forgetting  that  he  is  an  accounta- 


240  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

ble  agent,  not  the  principal  —  the  servant,  not  the  master. 
Until  an  amendment  of  the  constitution  can  be  effected, 
public  opinion  may  secure  the  desired  object.  1  give 
my  aid  to  it  by  renewing  the  pledge  heretofore  given, 
that  under  no  circumstances  will  I  consent  to  serve  a 
second  term. 

But  if  there  is  danger  to  public  liberty  from  the  ac 
knowledged  defect  of  the  constitution,  in  the  want  of  limit 
to  the  continuance  of  the  executive  power  in  the  same 
hands,  there  is,  I  apprehend,  not  much  less  from  a  mis 
construction  of  the  instrument,  as  it  regards  the  powers 
actually  given.  I  cannot  conceive  that,  by  a  fair  con 
struction,  any  or  either  of  its  provisions  would  be  found 
to  constitute  the  President  a  part  of  the  legislative  power. 
It  cannot  be  claimed  from  the  power  to  recommend,  since, 
although  enjoined  as  a  duty  upon  him,  it  is  a  duty  he  holds 
in  common  with  every  other  citizen.  And  although  there 
may  be  something  more  of  confidence  in  the  propriety  of 
the  measures  recommended  in  the  one  case  than  in  the 
other,  in  the  obligations  of  ultimate  decision  there  can  be 
no  difference.  In  the  language  of  the  constitution,  "  all 
the  legislative  powers"  which  it  grants  "  are  vested  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States."  It  would  be  a  solecism  in 
language  to  say  that  any  portion  of  these  is  not  included  in 
the  whole. 

It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  the  constitution  has  given 
to  the  executive  the  power  to  annul  the  acts  of  the  legisla 
tive  body,  by  refusing  to  them  his  assent.  So  a  similar 
power  has  necessarily  resulted  from  that  instrument  to  the 
judiciary,  and  yet  the  judiciary  forms  no  part  of  the  legis 
lature.  There  is,  it  is  true,  this  difference  between  these 
grants  of  power ;  the  executive  can  put  his  negative  upon 
the  acts  of  the  legislature  for  other  cause  than  that  of  want 
of  conformity  to  the  constitution,  while  the  judiciary  can 
only  declare  void  those  which  violate  that  instrument. 
But  the  decision  of  the  judiciary  is  final  in  such  a  case, 
whereas,  in  every  instance  where  the  veto  of  the  executive 
is  applied,  it  may  be  overcome  by  a  vote  of  two  thirds  of 
both  houses  of  Congress.  The  negative  upon  the  acts  of 
the  legislative,  by  the  executive  authority,  and  that  in  the 
hands  of  one  individual,  would  seem  to  be  an  incongruity 


HARRISON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  241 

in  our  system.  Like  some  others  of  a  similar  character, 
however,  it  appears  to  be  highly  expedient,  and  if  used 
only  with  the  forbearance  and  in  the  spirit  which  was  in 
tended  by  its  authors,  it  may  be  productive  of  great  good, 
and  be  found  one  of  the  best  safeguards  to  the  Union. 

At  the  period  of  the  formation  of  the  constitution,  the 
principle  does  not  appear  to  have  enjoyed  much  favor  in 
the  state  governments.  It  existed  but  in  two,  and  in  one 
of  these  there  was  a  plural  executive.  If  we  would  search 
for  the  motives  which  operated  upon  the  purely  patriotic 
and  enlightened  assembly  which  framed  the  constitution, 
for  the  adoption  of  a  provision  so  apparently  repugnant  to 
the  leading  democratic  principle,  that  the  majority  should 
govern,  we  must  reject  the  idea  that  they  anticipated  from 
it  any  benefit  to  the  ordinary  course  of  legislation.  They 
knew  too  well  the  high  degree  of  intelligence  which  existed 
among  the  people,  and  the  enlightened  character  of  the 
state  legislatures,  not  to  have  the  fullest  confidence  that 
the  two  bodies  elected  by  them  would  be  worthy  represen 
tatives  of  such  constituents,  and,  of  course,  that  they  would 
require  no  aid  in  conceiving  and  maturing  the  measures 
which  the  circumstances  of  the  country  might  require.  And 
it  is  preposterous  to  suppose  that  a  thought  could  for  a  mo 
ment  have  been  entertained  that  the  President,  placed  at 
the  capitol  in  the  centre  of  the  country,  could  better  under 
stand  the  wants  and  wishes  of  the  people  than  their  own 
immediate  representatives,  who  spend  a  part  of  every  year 
among  them,  living  with  them,  often  laboring  with  them, 
and  bound  to  them  by  the  triple  tie  of  interest,  duty,  and 
affection. 

To  assist  or  control  Congress,  then,  in  its  ordinary  legis 
lation,  could  not,  I  conceive,  have  been  the  motive  for  con 
ferring  the  veto  power  on  the  President.  This  argument 
acquires  additional  force  from  the  fact  of  its  never  having 
been  thus  used  by  the  first  six  Presidents  —  and  two  of 
them  were  members  of  the  convention,  one  presiding  over 
its  deliberations,  and  the  other  having  a  larger  share  in 
consummating  the  labors  of  that  august  body  than  any 
other  person.  But  if  bills  were  never  returned  to  Con 
gress  by  either  of  the  Presidents  above  referred  to,  upon 
the  ground  of  their  being  inexpedient,  or  not  as  well 
21 


242  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

adapted  as  they  might  be  to  the  wants  of  the  people,  the 
veto  was  applied  upon  that  of  want  of  conformity  to  the 
constitution,  or  because  errors  had  been  committed  from  a 
too  hasty  enactment. 

There  is  another  ground  for  the  adoption  of  the  veto 
principle,  which  had  probably  more  influence  in  recom 
mending  it  to  the  convention  than  any  other  :  I  refer  to 
the  security  which  it  gives  to  the  just  and  equitable  action 
of  the  legislature  upon  all  parts  of  the  Union.  It  could 
not  but  have  occurred  to  the  convention,  that  in  a  country 
so  extensive,  embracing  so  great  a  variety  of  soil  and  cli 
mate,  and  consequently  of  products,  and  which,  from  the 
same  causes,  must  ever  exhibit  a  great  difference  in  the 
amount  of  the  population  of  its  various  sections,  calling  for 
a  great  diversity  in  the  employments  of  the  people,  —  that 
the  legislation  of  the  majority  might  not  always  justly  regard 
the  rights  and  interests  of  the  minority ;  and  that  acts  of 
this  character  might  be  passed,  under  an  express  grant  by 
the  words  of  the  constitution,  and,  therefore,  not  within 
the  competency  of  the  judiciary  to  declare  void  ;  that  how 
ever  enlightened  and  patriotic  they  might  suppose,  from 
past  experience,  the  members  of  Congress  might  be,  and 
however  largely  partaking,  in  the  general,  of  the  liberal 
feelings  of  the  people,  it  was  impossible  to  expect  that 
bodies  so  constituted  should  not  sometimes  be  controlled 
by  local  interests  and  sectional  feeling.  It  was  proper, 
therefore,  to  provide  some  umpire,  from  whose  situation 
and  mode  of  appointment,  more  independence  and  freedom 
from  such  influences  might  be  expected.  Such  a  one  was 
afforded  by  the  executive  department,  constituted  by  the 
constitution.  A  person  elected  to  that  high  office,  having 
his  constituents  in  every  section,  state,  and  subdivision  of 
the  Union,  must  consider  himself  bound  by  the  most  solemn 
sanctions  to  guard,  protect,  and  defend  the  rights  of  all, 
and  every  portion,  great  or  small,  from  the  injustice  and 
oppression  of  the  rest. 

I  consider  the  veto  power,  therefore,  given  by  the  con 
stitution  to  the  executive  of  the  United  States,  solely  as  a 
conservative  power ;  to  be  used  only,  1st,  to  protect  the 
constitution  from  violation  ;  2dly,  the  people  from  the  ef 
fects  of  hasty  legislation,  where  their  will  has  been  proba- 


243 

bly  disregarded,  or  not  well  understood;  and,  3dly,  to 
prevent  the  effects  of  combinations  violative  of  the  rights 
of  minorities.  In  reference  to  the  second  of  these  objects, 
I  may  observe  that  I  consider  it  the  right  and  privilege  of 
the  people  to  decide  disputed  points  of  the  constitution, 
arising  from  the  general  grant  of  power  to  Congress  to  car 
ry  into  effect  the  powers  expressly  given.  And  I  believe, 
with  Mr.  Madison,  "  that  repeated  recognitions  under  varied 
circumstances,  in  acts  of  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judi 
cial  branches  of  the  government,  accompanied  by  indica 
tions,  in  different  modes,  of  the  concurrence  of  the  general 
will  of  the  nation,  as  affording  to  the  President  sufficient  au 
thority  for  his  considering  such  disputed  points  as  settled." 

Upward  of  half  a  century  has  elapsed  since  the  adoption 
of  our  present  form  of  government.  It  would  be  an  object 
more  highly  desirable  than  the  gratification  of  the  curiosity 
of  speculative  statesmen,  if  its  precise  situation  could  be 
ascertained,  a  fair  exhibit  made  of  the  operations  of  each 
of  its  departments,  of  the  powers  which  they  respectively 
claim  and  exercise,  of  the  collisions  which  have  occurred 
between  them,  or  between  the  whole  government  and 
those  of  the  states,  or  either  of  them.  We  could  then 
compare  our  actual  condition,  after  fifty  years'  trial  of 
our  system,  with  what  it  was  in  the  commencement  of 
its  operations,  and  ascertain  whether  the  predictions  of 
the  patriots  who  opposed  its  adoption,  or  the  confident 
hopes  of  its  advocates,  have  been  best  realized.  The  great 
dread  of  the  former  seems  to  have  been,  that  the  reserved 
powers  of  the  states  would  be  absorbed  by  those  of  the 
federal  government,  and  a  consolidated  power  established, 
leaving  to  the  states  the  shadow,  only,  of  that  independent 
action  for  which  they  had  so  zealously  contended,  and  on 
the  preservation  of  which  they  relied  as  the  last  hope  of 
liberty. 

Without  denying  that  the  result  to  which  they  looked 
with  so  much  apprehension  is  in  the  way  of  being  realized, 
it  is  obvious  that  they  did  not  clearly  see  the  mode  of  its 
accomplishment.  The  general  government  has  seized 
upon  none  of  the  reserved  rights  of  the  states.  As  far  as 
any  open  warfare  may  have  gone,  the  state  authorities  have 
amply  maintained  their  rights.  To  a  casual  observer,  our 


244  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

system  presents  no  appearance  of  discord  between  the  dif 
ferent  members  which  compose  it.  Even  the  addition  of 
many  new  ones  has  produced  no  jarring.  They  move  in 
their  respective  orbits  in  perfect  harmony  with  each,  other. 
But  there  is  still  an  under-current  at  work,  by  which,  if 
not  seasonably  checked,  the  worst  apprehensions  of  our 
anti-federal  patriots  will  be  realized.  And  not  only  will 
the  state  authorities  be  overshadowed  by  the  great  increase 
of  power  in  the  executive  department  of  the  general  gov 
ernment,  but  the  character  of  that  government,  if  not  its 
designation,  be  essentially  and  radically  changed.  This 
state  of  things  has  been  in  part  effected  by  causes  inherent 
in  the  constitution,  arid  in  part  by  the  never-failing  tenden 
cy  of  political  power  to  increase  itself. 

By  making  the  President  the  sole  distributor  of  all  the 
patronage  of  the  government,  the  framers  of  the  constitu 
tion  do  not  appear  to  have  anticipated  at  how  short  a  pe 
riod  it  would  become  a  formidable  instrument  to  control 
the  free  operation  of  the  state  governments.  Of  trifling 
importance  at  first,  it  had,  early  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  admin 
istration,  become  so  powerful  as  to  create  great  alarm  in 
the  mind  of  that  patriot  from  the  potent  influence  it  might 
exert  in  controlling  the  freedom  of  the  elective  franchise. 
If  such  could  have  been  the  effects  of  its  influence  then, 
how  much  greater  must  be  the  danger  at  this  time,  quad 
rupled  in  amount,  as  it  certainly  is,  and  more  completely 
under  the  control  of  the  executive  will,  than  their  con 
struction  of  their  powers  allowed,  or  the  forbearing  char 
acters  of  all  the  early  Presidents  permitted  them  to  make? 
But  it  is  not  by  the  extent  of  its  patronage  alone  that  the 
executive  department  has  become  dangerous,  but  by  the 
use  which  it  appears  may  be  made  of  the  appointing 
power,  to  bring  under  its  control  the  whole  revenues  of 
the  country. 

The  constitution  has  declared  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the 
President  to  see  that  the  laws  are  executed,  and  it  makes 
him  commander-in-chief  of  the  armies  and  navy  of  the 
United  States.  If  the  opinion  of  the  most  approved  wri 
ters  upon  that  species  of  mixed  government,  which,  in 
modern  Europe,  is  termed  monarchy,  in  contradistinction 
to  despotism,  is  correct,  there  was  wanting  no  other  addi- 


HARRISON'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS.  245 

tion  to  the  powers  of  our  chief  magistrate  to  stamp  a 
monarchical  character  upon  our  government,  but  the  con 
trol  of  the  public  finances.  And  to  me  it  appears  strange, 
indeed,  that  any  one  should  doubt  that  the  entire  control 
which  the  President  possesses  over  the  officers  who  have 
the  custody  of  the  public  money,  by  the  power  of  removal 
with  or  without  cause,  does,  for  all  mischievous  purposes 
at  least,  virtually  subject  the  treasure  also  to  his  disposal. 
The  first  Roman  emperor,  in  his  attempt  to  seize  the  sa 
cred  treasure,  silenced  the  opposition  of  the  officer  to 
whose  charge  it  had  been  committed,  by  a  significant 
allusion  to  his  sword.  By  a  selection  of  political  instru 
ments  for  the  care  of  the  public  money,  a  reference  to 
their  commissions  by  a  President  would  be  quite  as  effec 
tual  an  argument  as  that  of  Caesar  to  the  Roman  knight. 

I  am  not  insensible  of  the  great  difficulty  that  exists  in 
devising  a  plan  for  the  safe-keeping  and  disbursement  of 
the  public  revenues,  and  I  know  the  importance  which 
has  been  attached  by  men  of  great  abilities  and  patriotism 
to  the  divorce,  as  it  is  called,  of  the  treasury  from  the 
banking  institutions.  It  is  not  the  divorce  which  is 
complained  of,  but  the  unhallowed  union  of  the  treasury 
with  the  executive  department,  which  has  created  such 
extensive  alarm.  To  this  danger  to  our  republican  in 
stitutions,  and  that  created  by  the  influence  given  to  the 
executive  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  federal  offi 
cers,  I  propose  to  apply  all  the  remedies  which  may  be  at 
my  command.  It  was  certainly  a  great  error  in  the 
framers  of  the  constitution,  not  to  have  made  the  officer 
at  the  head  of  the  treasury  department  entirely  independ 
ent  of  the  executive.  He  should  at  least  have  been  re 
movable  only  upon  the  demand  of  the  popular  branch  of 
the  legislature.  I  have  determined  never  to  remove  a 
secretary  of  the  treasury  without  communicating  /all  the 
circumstances  attending  such  removal  to  both  houses  of 
Congress. 

The  influence  of  the  executive  in  controlling  the  free 
dom  of  the  elective  franchise  through  the  medium  of  the 
public  officers  can  be  effectually  checked  by  renewing  the 
prohibition  published  by  Mr  Jefferson,  forbidding  their 
interference  in  elections  further  than  giving  their  own 
21* 


246  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

votes ;  and  their  own  independence  secured  by  an  assur 
ance  of  perfect  immunity,  in  exercising  this  sacred  privi 
lege  of  freemen  under  the  dictates  of  their  own  unbiased 
judgments.  Never,  with  my  consent,  shall  an  officer  of 
the  people,  compensated  for  his  services  out  of  their 
pockets,  become  the  pliant  instrument  of  executive  will. 

There  is  no  part  of  the  means  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  executive  which  might  be  used  with  greater  effect, 
for  unhallowed  purposes,  than  the  control  of  the  public 
press.  The  maxim  which  our  ancestors  derived  from 
the  mother  country,  that  "  the  freedom  of  the  press  is  the 
great  bulwark  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,"  is  one  of  the 
most  precious  legacies  which  they  have  left  us.  We  have 
learned,  too,  from  our  own,  as  well  as  the  experience  of 
other  countries,  that  golden  shackles,  by  whomsoever,  or 
by  whatever  pretence  imposed,  are  as  fatal  to  it  as  the 
iron  bonds  of  despotism.  The  presses  in  the  necessary 
employment  of  government  should  never  be  used  to 
"  clear  the  guilty  or  to  varnish  crimes."  A  decent  and 
manly  examination  of  the  acts  of  the  government  should 
be  not  only  tolerated,  but  encouraged. 

Upon  another  occasion,  I  have  given  my  opinion,  at 
some  length,  upon  the  impropriety  of  executive  interfer 
ence  in  the  legislation  of  Congress;  that  the  article  in 
the  constitution  making  it  the  duty  of  the  President  to 
communicate  information,  and  authorizing  him  to  recom 
mend  measures,  was  not  intended  to  make  him  the  source 
of  legislation,  and,  in  particular,  that  he  should  never 
be  looked  to  for  schemes  of  finance.  It  would  be  very 
strange,  indeed,  that  the  constitution  should  have  strictly 
forbidden  one  branch  of  the  legislature  from  interfering 
in  the  origination  of  such  bills,  and  that  it  should  be  con 
sidered  proper  that  an  altogether  different  department  of 
the  government  should  be  permitted  to  do  so.  Some  of 
our  best  political  maxims  and  opinions  have  been  drawn 
from  our  parent  isle.  There  are  others,  however,  which 
cannot  be  introduced  into  our  system  without  singular 
incongruity,  and  the  production  of  much  mischief.  And 
this  I  conceive  to  be  one.  No  matter  in  which  of  the 
houses  of  Parliament  a  bill  may  originate,  nor  by  whom 
introduced,  a  minister,  or  a  member  of  the  opposition,  by 


247 

the  fiction  of  law,  or  rather  of  constitutional  principle,  the 
sovereign  is  supposed  to  have  prepared  it  agreeably  to  his 
will,  and  then  submitted  it  to  Parliament  for  their  advice 
and  consent. 

Now,  the  very  reverse  is  the  case  here,  not  only  with 
regard  to  the  principle,  but  the  forms  prescribed  by  the 
constitution.  The  principle  certainly  assigns  to  the  only 
body  constituted  by  the  constitution  (the  legislative  body) 
the  power  to  make  laws,  and  the  forms  even  direct  that 
the  enactment  should  be  ascribed  to  them.  The  Senate, 
in  relation  to  revenue  bills,  have  the  right  to  propose 
amendments ;  and  so  has  the  executive,  by  the  power 
given  him  to  return  them  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
with  his  objections.  It  is  in  his  power,  also,  to  propose 
amendments  in  the  existing  revenue  laws,  suggested  by 
his  observations  upon  their  defective  or  injurious  opera 
tion.  But  the  delicate  duty  of  devising  schemes  of  reve 
nue  should  be  left  where  the  constitution  has  placed  it, 
with  the  immediate  representatives  of  the  people.  For 
similar  reasons,  the  mode  of  keeping  the  public  treasure 
should  be  prescribed  by  them  ;  and  the  farther  removed  it 
may  be  from  the  control  of  the  executive,  the  more  whole 
some  in  arrangement,  and  the  more  in  accordance  with 
republican  principles. 

Connected  with  this  subject  is  the  character  of  the  cur 
rency.  The  idea  of  making  it  exclusively  metallic,  how 
ever  well  intended,  appears  to  me  to  be  fraught  with  more 
fatal  consequences  than  any  other  scheme,  having  no  rela 
tion  to  the  personal  rights  of  the  citizen,  that  has  ever 
been  devised.  If  any  single  scheme  could  produce  the 
effect  of  arresting,  at  once,  that  mutation  of  condition  by 
which  thousands  of  our  most  indigent  fellow-citizens,  by 
their  industry  and  enterprise,  are  raised  to  the  possession 
of  wealth,  that  is  one.  If  there  is  one  measure  better 
calculated  than  another  to  produce  that  state  of  things  so 
much  deprecated  by  all  true  republicans,  by  which  the 
rich  are  daily  adding  to  their  hoards,  and  the  poor  sinking 
deeper  into  penury,  it  is  an  exclusive  metallic  currency. 
Or  if  there  is  a  process  by  which  the  character  of  the 
country  for  generosity  and  nobleness  of  feeling  may  be 


248  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

destroyed  by  the  great  increase  and  necessary  toleration 
of  usury,  it  is  an  exclusive  metallic  currency. 

Amongst  the  other  duties  of  a  delicate  character  which 
the  President  is  called  upon  to  perform,  is  the  supervision 
of  the  government  of  the  territories  of  the  United  States. 
Those  of  them  which  are  destined  to  become  members  of 
our  great  political  family,  are  compensated  by  their  rapid 
progress  from  infancy  to  manhood,  for  the  partial  and 
temporary  deprivation  of  their  political  rights. 

It  is  in  this  district  only,  where  American  citizens  are 
to  be  found,  who,  under  a  settled  system  of  policy,  are  de 
prived  of  many  important  political  privileges,  without  any 
inspiring  hope  as  to  the  future.  Their  only  consolation 
under  circumstances  of  such  deprivation,  is  that  of  the 
devoted  exterior  guards  of  a  camp  —  that  their  sufferings 
secure  tranquillity  and  safety  within.  Are  there  any  of 
their  countrymen  who  would  subject  them  to  greater  sacri 
fices,  to  any  other  humiliations,  than  those  essentially 
necessary  to  the  security  of  the  object  for  which  they  were 
thus  separated  from  their  fellow-citizens?  Are  their 
rights  alone  not  to  be  guarantied  by  the  application  of 
those  great  principles,  upon  which  all  our  constitutions 
are  founded  1  We  are  told  by  the  greatest  of  British 
orators  and  statesmen,  that,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
war  of  the  revolution,  the  most  stupid  men  in  England 
spoke  of  "  their  American  subjects."  Are  there,  indeed, 
citizens  of  any  of  our  states  who  have  dreamed  of  their 
subjects  in  the  District  of  Columbia?  Such  dreams  can 
never  be  realized  by  any  agency  of  mine. 

The  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia  are  not  the  sub 
jects  of  the  people  of  the  states,  but  free  American  citi 
zens.  Being  in  the  latter  condition  when  the  constitution 
was  formed,  no  words  used  in  that  instrument  could  have 
been  intended  to  deprive  them  of  that  character.  If  there 
is  any  thing  in  the  great  principles  of  inalienable  rights, 
so  emphatically  insisted  upon  in  our  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  they  could  neither  make,  nor  the  United  States 
accept,  a  surrender  of  their  liberties,  and  become  the  sub 
jects,  in  other  words  the  slaves,  of  their  former  fellow-citi 
zens.  If  this  be  true,  —  and  it  will  scarcely  be  denied  by  any 


INAUGURAL    ADDRESS.  249 

one  who  has  a  correct  idea  of  his  own  rights  as  an  Ameri 
can  citizen,  —  the  grant  to  Congress  of  exclusive  jurisdic 
tion  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  can  be  interpreted,  so  far 
as  respects  the  aggregate  people  of  the  United  States,  as 
meaning  nothing  more  than  to  allow  Congress  the  con 
trolling  power  necessary  to  afford  a  free  and  safe  exercise 
of  the  functions  assigned  to  the  general  government  by 
the  constitution.  In  all  other  respects,  the  legislation  of 
Congress  should  be  adapted  to  their  peculiar  condition  and 
wants,  and  be  conformable  with  their  deliberate  opinions 
of  their  own  interests. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  necessity  of  keeping  the  respective 
departments  of  the  government,  as  well  as  all  the  other 
authorities  of  our  country,  within  their  appropriate  orbits. 
This  is  a  matter  of  difficulty  in  some  cases,  as  the  powers 
which  they  respectively  claim  are  often  not  denned  by  very 
distinct  lines.  Mischievous,  however,  in  their  tendencies, 
as  collisions  of  this  kind  may  be,  those  which  arise  be 
tween  the  respective  communities,  which  for  certain  pur 
poses  compose  one  nation,  are  much  more  so  ;  for  no  such 
nation  can  long  exist  without  the  careful  culture  of  those 
feelings  of  confidence  and  affection  which  are  the  effec 
tive  bonds  of  union  between  free  and  confederated  states. 
Strong  as  is  the  tie  of  interest,  it  has  been  often  found  in 
effectual.  Men,  blinded  by  their  passions,  have  been 
known  to  adopt  measures  for  their  country  in  direct  oppo 
sition  to  all  the  suggestions  of  policy.  The  alternative, 
then,  is,  to  keep  down  a  bad  passion  by  creating  and  fos 
tering  a  good  one  ;  and  this  seems  to  be  the  corner-stone 
upon  which  our  American  political  architects  have  reared 
the  fabric  of  our  government. 

The  cement  which  was  to  bind  it,  and  perpetuate  its 
existence,  was  the  affectionate  attachment  between  all  its 
members.  To  insure  the  continuance  of  this  feeling,  pro 
duced  at  first  by  a  community  of  dangers,  of  sufferings, 
and  of  interests,  the  advantages  of  each  were  made  acces 
sible  to  all.  No  participation  in  any  good,  possessed  by 
any  member  of  an  extensive  confederacy,  except  in  do 
mestic  government,  was  withheld  from  the  citizen  of  any 
other  member.  By  a  process  attended  with  no  difficulty, 
no  delay,  no  expense  but  that  of  removal,  the  citizen  of 


250  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  one  might  become  the  citizen  of  any  other,  and  suc 
cessively  of  the  whole.  The  lines,  too,  separating  powers 
to  be  exercised  by  the  citizens  of  one  state  from  those  of 
another,  seem  to  be  so  distinctly  drawn  as  to  leave  no 
room  for  misunderstanding.  The  citizens  of  each  state 
unite  in  their  persons  all  the  privileges  which  that  char 
acter  confers,  and  all  that  they  may  claim  as  citizens  of 
the  United  States  ;  but  in  no  case  can  the  same  person,  at 
the  same  time,  act  as  the  citizen  of  two  separate  states, 
and  he  is  therefore  positively  precluded  from  any  inter 
ference  with  the  reserved  powers  of  any  state,  but  that  of 
which  he  is,  for  the  time  being,  a  citizen.  He  may,  in 
deed,  offer  to  citizens  of  other  states  his  advice  as  to  their 
management,  and  the  form  in  which  it  is  tendered  is  left 
to  his  own  discretion  and  sense  of  propriety. 

It  may  be  observed,  however,  that  organized  associa 
tions  of  citizens,  requiring  compliance  with  their  wishes, 
too  much  resemble  the  recommendations  of  Athens  to 
her  allies  —  supported  by  an  armed  and  powerful  fleet.  It 
was,  indeed,  to  the  ambition  of  the  leading  states  of  Greece 
to  control  the  domestic  concerns  of  the  others,  that  the 
destruction  of  that  celebrated  confederacy,  and  subse 
quently  of  all  its  members,  is  mainly  to  be  attributed. 
And  it  is  owing  to  the  absence  of  that  spirit  that  the  Hel 
vetic  confederacy  had  been  for  so  many  years  preserved. 
Never  had  there  been  seen  in  the  institutions  of  the  sepa 
rate  members  of  any  confederacy  more  elements  of  discord. 
In  the  principles  and  forms  of  government  and  religion,  as 
well  as  in  the  circumstances  of  the  several  cantons,  so 
marked  a  discrepancy  was  observable  as  to  promise  any 
thing  but  harmony  in  their  intercourse,  or  permanency  in 
their  alliance.  And  yet,  for  ages,  neither  has  been  inter 
rupted.  Content  with  the  positive  benefits  which  their 
union  produced,  with  the  independence  and  safety  from 
foreign  aggression  which  it  secured,  these  sagacious  peo 
ple  respected  the  institutions  of  each  other,  however  re 
pugnant  to  their  own  principles  and  prejudices. 

Our  confederacy,  fellow-citizens,  can  only  be  preserved 
by  the  same  forbearance.  Our  citizens  must  be  content 
with  the  exercise  of  the  powers  with  which  the  constitution 
clothes  them.  The  attempt  of  those  of  one  state  to  control 


ADDRESS.  251 

the  domestic  institutions  of  another,  can  only  result  in 
feelings  of  distrust  and  jealousy,  the  certain  harbingers  of 
disunion,  violence,  civil  war,  and  the  ultimate  destruction 
of  our  free  institutions.  Our  confederacy  is  perfectly 
illustrated  by  the  terms  and  principles  governing  a  common 
copartnership.  There  a  fund  of  power  is  to  be  exercised 
under  the  direction  of  the  joint  councils  of  the  allied  mem 
bers,  but  that  which  has  been  reserved  by  the  individual 
members  is  intangible  by  the  common  government,  or  the 
individual  members  composing  it.  To  attempt  it  finds  no 
support  in  the  principles  of  our  constitution.  It  should  be 
our  constant  and  earnest  endeavor  mutually  to  cultivate  a 
spirit  of  concord  and  harmony  among  the  various  parts  of 
our  confederacy.  Experience  has  abundantly  taught  us 
that  the  agitation,  by  citizens  of  one  part  of  the  Union,  of 
a  subject  not  confided  to  the  general  government,  but  ex 
clusively  under  the  guardianship  of  the  local  authorities,  is 
productive  of  no  other  consequences  than  bitterness,  alien 
ation,  discord,  and  injury  to  the  very  cause  which  is 
intended  to  be  advanced.  Of  all  the  great  interests  which 
appertain  to  our  country,  that  of  union  — cordial,  confiding, 
fraternal  union  —  is  by  far  the  most  important,  since  it  is 
the  only  true  and  sure  guaranty  of  all  others. 

In  consequence  of  the  embarrassed  state  of  business  and 
the  currency,  some  of  the  states  may  meet  with  difficulty 
in  their  financial  concerns.  However  deeply  we  may 
regret  any  thing  imprudent  or  excessive  in  the  engagements 
into  which  states  have  entered  for  purposes  of  their  own,  it 
does  not  become  us  to  disparage  the  state  governments,  nor 
to  discourage  them  from  making  proper  efforts  for  their 
own  relief;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  our  duty  to  encourage 
them,  to  the  extent  of  our  constitutional  authority,  to  apply 
their  best  means,  and  cheerfully  to  make  all  necessary 
sacrifices,  and  submit  to  all  necessary  burdens,  to  fulfil  their 
engagements  and  maintain  their  credit ;  for  the  character 
and  credit  of  the  several  states  form  part  of  the  character  and 
credit  of  the  whole  country.  The  resources  of  the  country 
are  abundant,  the  enterprise  and  activity  of  our  people 
proverbial ;  and  we  may  well  hope  that  wise  legislation 
and  prudent  administration,  by  the  respective  governments, 


250  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  one  might  become  the  citizen  of  any  other,  and  suc 
cessively  of  the  whole.  The  lines,  too,  separating  powers 
to  be  exercised  by  the  citizens  of  one  state  from  those  of 
another,  seem  to  be  so  distinctly  drawn  as  to  leave  no 
room  for  misunderstanding.  The  citizens  of  each  state 
unite  in  their  persons  all  the  privileges  which  that  char 
acter  confers,  and  all  that  they  may  claim  as  citizens  of 
the  United  States  ;  but  in  no  case  can  the  same  person,  at 
the  same  time,  act  as  the  citizen  of  two  separate  states, 
and  he  is  therefore  positively  precluded  from  any  inter 
ference  with  the  reserved  powers  of  any  state,  but  that  of 
which  he  is,  for  the  time  being,  a  citizen.  He  may,  in 
deed,  offer  to  citizens  of  other  states  his  advice  as  to  their 
management,  and  the  form  in  which  it  is  tendered  is  left 
to  his  own  discretion  and  sense  of  propriety. 

It  may  be  observed,  however,  that  organized  associa 
tions  of  citizens,  requiring  compliance  with  their  wishes, 
too  much  resemble  the  recommendations  of  Athens  to 
her  allies  —  supported  by  an  armed  and  powerful  fleet.  It 
was,  indeed,  to  the  ambition  of  the  leading  states  of  Greece 
to  control  the  domestic  concerns  of  the  others,  that  the 
destruction  of  that  celebrated  confederacy,  and  subse 
quently  of  all  its  members,  is  mainly  to  be  attributed. 
And  it  is  owing  to  the  absence  of  that  spirit  that  the  Hel 
vetic  confederacy  had  been  for  so  many  years  preserved. 
Never  had  there  been  seen  in  the  institutions  of  the  sepa 
rate  members  of  any  confederacy  more  elements  of  discord. 
In  the  principles  and  forms  of  government  and  religion,  as 
well  as  in  the  circumstances  of  the  several  cantons,  so 
marked  a  discrepancy  was  observable  as  to  promise  any 
thing  but  harmony  in  their  intercourse,  or  permanency  in 
their  alliance.  And  yet,  for  ages,  neither  has  been  inter 
rupted.  Content  with  the  positive  benefits  which  their 
union  produced,  with  the  independence  and  safety  from 
foreign  aggression  which  it  secured,  these  sagacious  peo 
ple  respected  the  institutions  of  each  other,  however  re 
pugnant  to  their  own  principles  and  prejudices. 

Our  confederacy,  fellow-citizens,  can  only  be  preserved 
by  the  same  forbearance.  Our  citizens  must  be  content 
with  the  exercise  of  the  powers  with  which  the  constitution 
clothes  them.  The  attempt  of  those  of  one  state  to  control 


INAUGURAL    ADDRESS.  251 

the  domestic  institutions  of  another,  can  only  jesult  in 
feelings  of  distrust  and  jealousy,  the  certain  harbingers  of 
disunion,  violence,  civil  war,  and  the  ultimate  destruction 
of  our  free  institutions.  Our  confederacy  is  perfectly 
illustrated  by  the  terms  and  principles  governing  a  common 
copartnership.  There  a  fund  of  power  is  to  be  exercised 
under  the  direction  of  the  joint  councils  of  the  allied  mem 
bers,  but  that  which  has  been  reserved  by  the  individual 
members  is  intangible  by  the  common  government,  or  the 
individual  members  composing  it.  To  attempt  it  finds  no 
support  in  the  principles  of  our  constitution.  It  should  be 
our  constant  and  earnest  endeavor  mutually  to  cultivate  a 
spirit  of  concord  and  harmony  among  the  various  parts  of 
our  confederacy.  Experience  has  abundantly  taught  us 
that  the  agitation,  by  citizens  of  one  part  of  the  Union,  of 
a  subject  not  confided  to  the  general  government,  but  ex 
clusively  under  the  guardianship  of  the  local  authorities,  is 
productive  of  no  other  consequences  than  bitterness,  alien 
ation,  discord,  and  injury  to  the  very  cause  which  is 
intended  to  be  advanced.  Of  all  the  great  interests  which 
appertain  to  our  country,  that  of  union  — cordial,  confiding, 
fraternal  union  —  is  by  far  the  most  important,  since  it  is 
the  only  true  and  sure  guaranty  of  all  others. 

In  consequence  of  the  embarrassed  state  of  business  and 
the  currency,  some  of  the  states  may  meet  with  difficulty 
in  their  financial  concerns.  However  deeply  we  may 
regret  any  thing  imprudent  or  excessive  in  the  engagements 
into  which  states  have  entered  for  purposes  of  their  own,  it 
does  not  become  us  to  disparage  the  state  governments,  nor 
to  discourage  them  from  making  proper  efforts  for  their 
own  relief;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  our  duty  to  encourage 
them,  to  the  extent  of  our  constitutional  authority,  to  apply 
their  best  means,  and  cheerfully  to  make  all  necessary 
sacrifices,  and  submit  to  all  necessary  burdens,  to  fulfil  their 
engagements  and  maintain  their  credit ;  for  the  character 
and  credit  of  the  several  states  form  part  of  the  character  and 
credit  of  the  whole  country.  The  resources  of  the  country 
are  abundant,  the  enterprise  and  activity  of  our  people 
proverbial ;  and  we  may  well  hope  that  wise  legislation 
and  prudent  administration,  by  the  respective  governments, 


252  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

each  acting  .within  its  own  sphere,  will  restore  former 
prosperitjx. 

Unpleasant  and  even  dangerous  as  collisions  may  some 
times  be,  between  the  constituted  authorities  or  the  citi 
zens  of  our  country,  in  relation  to  the  lines  which  separate 
their  respective  jurisdictions,  the  results  can  be  of  no  vital 
injury  to  our  institutions,  if  that  ardent  patriotism,  that 
devoted  attachment  to  liberty,  that  spirit  of  moderation  and 
forbearance  for  which  our  countrymen  were  once  distin 
guished,  continue  to  be  cherished.  If  this  continues  to  be 
the  ruling  passion  of  our  souls,  the  weaker  feelings  of  the 
mistaken  enthusiast  will  be  corrected,  the  Utopian  dreams 
of  the  scheming  politician  dissipated,  and  the  complicated 
intrigues  of  the  demagogue  rendered  harmless.  The  spirit 
of  liberty  is  the  sovereign  balm  for  every  injury  which  our 
institutions  may  receive. 

On  the  contrary,  no  care  that  can  be  used  in  the  con 
struction  of  our  government,  no  division  of  powers,  no 
distribution  of  checks  in  its  departments,  will  prove  effec 
tual  to  keep  us  a  free  people,  if  this  spirit  is  suffered  to 
decay  ;  and  decay  it  will  without  constant  nurture.  To  the 
neglect  of  this  duty,  the  best  historians  agree  in  attributing 
the  ruin  of  all  the  republics  with  whose  existence  and  fall 
their  writings  have  made  us  acquainted.  The  same 
causes  will  ever  produce  the  same  effects ;  and  as  long  as 
the  love  of  power  is  a  dominant  passion  of  the  human 
bosom,  and  as  long  as  the  understandings  of  men  can  be 
warped  and  their  affections  changed  by  operations  upon 
their  passions  and  prejudices,  so  long  will  the  liberty  of 
a  people  depend  on  their  own  constant  attention  to  its 
preservation. 

The  danger  to  all  well-established  free  governments 
arises  from  the  unwillingness  of  the  people  to  believe  in 
its  existence,  or  from  the  influence  of  designing  men,  di 
verting  their  attention  from  the  quarter  whence  it  ap 
proaches,  to  a  source  from  which  it  can  never  come.  This 
is  the  old  trick  of  those  who  would  usurp  the  government 
of  their  country.  In  the  name  of  Democracy  they  speak, 
warning  the  people  against  the  influence  of  wealth  and 
the  danger  of  aristocracy.  History,  ancient  and  modern, 


HARRISON'S  INAUGURAL,  ADDRESS.  253 

is  full  of  such  examples.  Caesar  became  the  master  of 
the  Roman  people  and  the  senate,  under  the  pretence  of 
supporting  the  democratic  claims  of  the  former  against 
the  aristocracy  of  the  latter;  Cromwell,  in  the  character 
of  protector  of  the  liberties  of  the  people,  became  the  dic 
tator  of  England  ;  and  Bolivar  possessed  himself  of  un 
limited  power  with  the  title  of  his  country's  Liberator. 
There  is,  on  the  contrary,  no  single  instance  on  record  of 
an  extensive  and  well-established  republic  being  changed 
into  an  aristocracy.  The  tendency  of  all  such  govern 
ments,  in  their  decline,  is  to  monarchy;  and  the  antago 
nist  principle  to  liberty  there  is  the  spirit  of  faction  —  a 
spirit  which  assumes  the  character,  and,  in  times  of  great 
excitement,  imposes  itself  upon  the  people  as  the  genuine 
spirit  of  freedom,  and  like  the  false  Christs  whose  coming 
was  foretold  by  the  Savior,  seeks  to,  and,  were  it  possible, 
would,  impose  upon  the  true  and  most  faithful  disciples 
of  liberty. 

It  is  in  periods  like  this,  that  it  behoves  the  people  to 
be  most  watchful  of  those  to  whom  they  have  intrusted 
power.  And  although  there  is  at  times  much  difficulty 
in  distinguishing  the  false  from  the  true  spirit,  a  calm  and 
dispassionate  investigation  will  detect  the  counterfeit  as 
well  by  the  character  of  its  operations,  as  the  results  that 
are  produced.  The  true  spirit  of  liberty,  although  de 
voted,  persevering,  bold,  and  uncompromising  in  prin 
ciple,  that  secured,  is  mild  and  tolerant,  scrupulous  as  to 
the  means  it  employs  ;  whilst  the  spirit  of  party,  assuming 
to  be  that  of  liberty,  is  harsh,  vindictive,  and  intolerant, 
and  totally  reckless  as  to  the  character  of  the  allies  which 
it  brings  to  the  aid  of  its  cause.  When  the  genuine  spirit 
of  liberty  animates  the  body  of  a  people  to  a  thorough  ex 
amination  of  their  affairs,  it  leads  to  the  excision  of  every 
excrescence  which  may  have  fastened  itself  upon  any  of 
the  departments  of  the  government,  and  restores  the  sys 
tem  to  its  pristine  health  and  beauty.  But  the  reign  of  an 
intolerant  spirit  of  party  amongst  a  free  people,  seldom 
fails  to  result  in  a  dangerous  accession  to  the  executive 
power,  introduced  and  established  amidst  unusual  pro 
fessions  of  devotion  to  democracy. 

The  foregoing  remarks  relate  almost  exclusively  to  mat- 
22 


256  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

is  with  the  people.  Something,  however,  may  be  effected 
by  the  means  which  they  have  placed  in  my  hands. 

It  is  union  that  we  want,  not  of  a  party  for  the  sake  of 
that  party,  but  of  the  whole  country  for  the  sake  of  the 
whole  country  —  for  the  defence  of  its  interests  and  its 
honor  against  foreign  aggression,  for  the  defence  of  those 
principles  for  which  our  ancestors  so  gloriously  contended. 
As  far  as  it  depends  upon  me  it  shall  be  accomplished. 
All  the  influence  which  I  possess  shall  be  exerted  to  pre 
vent  the  formation  at  least  of  an  executive  party  in  the 
halls  of  the  legislative  body.  I  wish  for  the  support  of  no 
member  of  that  body  to  any  measure  of  mine  that  does  not 
satisfy  his  judgment  and  his  sense  of  duty  to  those  from 
whom  he  holds  his  appointment;  nor  any  confidence  in  ad 
vance  from  the  people,  but  that  asked  by  Mr.  Jefferson, 
"  to  give  firmness  and  effect  to  the  legal  administration  of 
their  affairs." 

I  deem  the  present  occasion  sufficiently  important  and 
solemn  to  justify  me  in  expressing  to  my  fellow-citizens 
a  profound  reverence  for  the  Christian  religion,  and  a 
thorough  conviction  that  sound  morals,  religious  liberty, 
and  a  just  sense  of  religious  responsibility,  are  essentially 
connected  with  all  true  and  lasting  happiness ;  and  to 
that  good  Being  who  has  blessed  us  by  the  gift  of  civil 
and  religious  freedom,  who  watched  over  and  prospered 
the  labors  of  our  fathers,  and  has  hitherto  preserved  to  us 
institutions  far  exceeding  in  excellence  those  of  any  other 
people,  let  us  unite  in  fervently  commending  every  inter 
est  of  our  beloved  country  in  all  future  time. 

Fellow-citizens — Being  fully  invested  with  that  high 
office  to  which  the  partiality  of  my  countrymen  has  called 
me,  I  now  take  an  affectionate  leave  of  you.  You  will 
bear  with  you  to  your  homes  the  remembrance  of  the 
pledge  I  have  this  day  given  to  discharge  all  the  high  du 
ties  of  my  exalted  station  according  to  the  best  of  my 
ability;  and  I  shall  enter  upon  their  performance  with 
entire  confidence  in  the  support  of  a  just  and  generous 
people. 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN.  257 

TYLER'S  ADDRESS  TO  THE  PEOPLE. 

APRIL  9,   1841. 

In  just  one  month  after  entering  upon  his  duties  as  President 
of  the  United  States,  William  Henry  Harrison  died  —  the  first 
that  has  died  in  office  since  the  formation  of  the  government. 
Consequently  it  became  the  duty  of  the  Vice-President,  John 
Tyler,  to  assume  the  presidential  chair ;  on  which  occasion  he 
published  the  following 

ADDRESS  TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  U.  STATES. 

Fellow-Citizens  : 

BEFORE  my  arrival  at  the  seat  of  government,  the  pain 
ful  communication  was  made  to  you  by  the  officers  presi 
ding  over  the  several  departments,  of  the  deeply-regretted 
death  of  William  Henry  Harrison,  President  of  the  United 
States.  Upon  him  you  had  conferred  your  gift,  and  had 
selected  him  as  your  chosen  instrument  to  correct  and  re 
form  all  such  errors  and  abuses  as  had  manifested  them 
selves  from  time  to  time  in  the  practical  operation  of  the 
government.  While  standing  at  the  threshold  of  this 
great  work,  he  has,  by  the  dispensation  of  Providence,  been 
removed  from  us,  and  by  the  provisions  of  the  constitution 
the  efforts  to  be  directed  to  the  accomplishment  of  this 
vitally-important  task  have  devolved  upon  myself.  The 
same  occurrence  has  subjected  the  wisdom  and  sufficiency 
of  our  institutions  to  a  new  test. 

For  the  first  time  in  our  history,  the  person  elected  to 
the  vice-presidency  of  the  United  States,  by  the  happen 
ing  of  a  contingency  provided  for  in  the  constitution,  has 
had  devolved  upon  him  the  presidential  office.  The  spirit 
of  faction,  which  is  directly  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  a  lofty 
patriotism,  may  find  in  this,  occasion  for  assaults  upon  my 
administration.  And  in  succeeding,  under  circumstances 
so  sudden  and  unexpected,  and  to  responsibilities  so  greatly 
augmented,  to  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  I  shall 
place  in  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  the  people  my 
only  sure  reliance.  My  earnest  prayer  shall  be  constantly 
addressed  to  the  all-wise  and  all-powerful  Being  who  made 
22* 


258  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

me,  and  by  whose  dispensation  I  am  called  to  the  high 
office  of  President  of  this  confederacy,  that  I  may  be  ena 
bled  understandingly  to  carry  out  the  principles  of  that 
constitution  which  I  have  sworn  to  "  protect,  preserve, 
and  defend." 

The  usual  opportunity  which  is  afforded  a  chief  magis 
trate,  upon  his  induction  to  office,  of  presenting  to  his 
countrymen  an  exposition  of  the  policy  which  would  guide 
his  administration,  in  the  form  of  an  inaugural  address, 
not  having,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  which  have 
brought  me  to  the  discharge  of  the  high  duties  of  President 
of  the  United  States,  been  offered  to  me,  a  brief  exposition 
of  the  principles  which  will  govern  me  in  the  general 
course  of  my  administration  of  public  affairs,  would  seem 
due  as  well  to  myself  as  to  you.  In  regard  to  foreign  na 
tions,  the  groundwork  of  my  policy  will  be  justice  on  our 
part  to  all,  submitting  to  injustice  from  none.  While  I 
shall  sedulously  cultivate  the  relation  of  peace  and  amity 
with  one  and  all,  it  will  be  my  most  imperative  duty  to  see 
that  the  honor  of  the  country  shall  sustain  no  blemish. 
With  a  view  to  this,  the  condition  of  our  military  defences 
will  become  a  matter  of  anxious  solicitude.  The  army, 
which  has  in  other  days  covered  itself  with  renown,  and 
the  navy,  not  inappropriately  termed  the  right  hand  of  the 
public  defence,  which  has  spread  a  light  of  glory  over  the 
American  standard  in  all  the  waters  of  the  earth,  should 
be  rendered  replete  with  efficiency. 

In  view  of  the  fact,  well  avouched  by  history,  that  the 
tendency  of  all  human  institutions  is  to  concentrate  power 
in  the  hands  of  a  single  man,  and  that  their  ultimate  down 
fall  has  proceeded  from  this  cause,  I  deem  it  of  the  most 
essential  importance  that  a  complete  separation  should 
take  place  between  the  sword  and  the  purse.  No  matter 
where  or  how  the  public  moneys  shall  be  deposited,  so  long 
as  the  President  can  exert  the  power  of  appointing  arid 
removing,  at  his  pleasure,  the  agents  selected  for  their 
custody,  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  is 
in  fact  the  treasurer.  A  permanent  and  radical  change 
should  therefore  be  decreed.  The  patronage  incident  to 
the  presidential  office,  already  great,  is  constantly  increas 
ing.  Such  increase  is  destined  to  keep  pace  with  the 


259 

growth  of  our  population,  until,  without  a  figure  of  speech, 
an  army  of  office-holders  may  be  spread  over  the  land. 
The  unrestrained  power  exerted  by  a  selfishly  ambitious 
man,  in  order  either  to  perpetuate  his  authority  or  to  hand 
it  over  to  some  favorite  as  his  successor,  may  lead  to  the 
employment  of  all  the  means  within  his  control  to  accom 
plish  his  object. 

The  right  to  remove  from  office,  while  subjected  to  no 
restraint,  is  inevitably  destined  to  produce  a  spirit  of 
crouching  servility  with  the  official  corps,  which,  in  order 
to  uphold  the  hand  which  feeds  them,  would  lead  to  direct 
and  active  interference  in  the  elections,  both  state  and 
federal,  thereby  subjecting  the  course  of  state  legislation  to 
the  dictation  of  the  chief  executive  officer ;  and  making  the 
will  of  that  officer  absolute  and  supreme.  I  will,  at  a 
proper  time,  invoke  the  action  of  Congress  upon  this  sub 
ject,  and  shall  readily  acquiesce  in  the  adoption  of  all 
proper  measures  which  are  calculated  to  arrest  these  evils, 
so  full  of  danger  in  their  tendency. 

I  will  remove  no  incumbent  from  office  who  has  faith 
fully  and  honestly  acquitted  himself  of  the  duties  of  his 
office,  except  in  cases  where  such  officer  has  been  guilty 
of  an  active  partisanship,  or  by  secret  means  —  the  less 
manly,  and  therefore  the  more  objectionable  —  has  given 
his  official  influence  to  the  purposes  of  party,  thereby 
bringing  the  patronage  of  the  government  in  conflict  with 
the  freedom  of  elections.  Numerous  removals  may  be 
come  necessary  under  this  rule.  These  will  be  made  by 
me  through  no  acerbity  of  feeling.  I  have  had  no  cause 
to  cherish  or  indulge  unkind  feelings  towards  any,  but  my 
conduct  will  be  regulated  by  a  profound  sense  of  what  is 
due  to  the  country  and  its  institutions;  nor  shall  I  neglect 
to  apply  the  same  unbending  rule  to  those  of  my  appoint 
ment.  Freedom  of  opinion  will  be  tolerated,  the  right  of 
suffrage  will  be  maintained  as  the  birthright  of  every  Amer 
ican  citizen,  but  I  say  emphatically  to  the  official  corps, 
"  Thus  far,  and  no  farther." 

I  have  dwelt  the  longer  upon  this  subject,  because  re 
movals  from  office  are  likely  often  to  arise,  and  I  would 
have  my  countrymen  to  understand  the  principle  of  ex 
ecutive  action. 


260  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

In  all  public  expenditures  the  most  rigid  economy 
should  be  resorted  to,  and  as  one  of  its  results,  a  public 
debt  in  time  of  peace  be  sedulously  avoided.  A  wise  and 
patriotic  constituency  will  never  object  to  the  imposition  of 
necessary  burdens  for  useful  ends,  and  true  wisdom  dic 
tates  the  resort  to  such  means,  in  order  to  supply  deficien 
cies  in  the  revenue,  rather  than  to  those  doubtful  expedi 
ents,  which,  ultimating  in  a  public  debt,  serve  to  embarrass 
the  resources  of  the  country,  and  to  lessen  its  ability  to 
meet  any  great  emergency  which  may  arise.  All  sinecures 
should  be  abolished.  The  appropriations  should  be  direct 
and  explicit,  so  as  to  leave  as  limited  a  share  of  discretion 
to  the  disbursing  agents  as  may  be  found  compatible  with 
the  public  service.  A  strict  responsibility  on  the  part  of 
all  agents  of  the  government  should  be  maintained,  and 
peculation  and  defalcation  visited  with  immediate  expul 
sion  from  office  and  the  most  condign  punishment. 

The  public  interest  demands  that,  if  any  war  has  existed 
between  the  government  and  the  currency,  it  shall  cease. 
Measures  of  a  financial  character,  now  having  the  sanction 
of  legal  enactment,  shall  be  faithfully  enforced  until  re 
pealed  by  the  legislative  authority.  But  I  owe  it  to  myself 
to  say,  that  I  regard  existing  enactments  as  unwise  and  im 
politic,  and  in  a  high  degree  oppressive. 

I  shall  promptly  give  sanction  to  any  constitutional 
measure  which,  originating  in  Congress,  shall  have  for  its 
object  the  restoration  of  a  sound  circulating  medium,  so 
essentially  necessary  to  give  confidence  in  all  the  trans 
actions  of  life,  to  secure  to  industry  its  just  and  adequate 
rewards,  and  to  reestablish  the  public  prosperity.  In  de 
ciding  upon  the  adaptation  of  any  such  measure  to  the  end 
proposed,  as  well  as  its  conformity  to  the  constitution,  I 
shall  resort  to  the  fathers  of  the  great  republican  school, 
for  advice  and  instruction-,  to  be  drawn  from  their  sage 
views  of  our  system  of  government,  and  the  light  of  their 
ever-glorious  example. 

The  institutions  under  which  we  live,  my  countrymen, 
secure  each  person  in  the  perfect  enjoyment  of  all  his 
rights.  The  spectacle  is  exhibited  to  the  world  of  a  gov 
ernment  deriving  its  power  from  the  consent  of  the  gov 
erned,  and  having  imparted  to  it  only  so  much  power  as  is 


261 

necessary  for  its  successful  operation.  Those  who  are 
charged  with  its  administration  should  carefully  abstain 
from  all  attempts  to  enlarge  the  range  of  powers  thus 
granted  to  the  several  departments  of  the  government, 
other  than  by  an  appeal  to  the  people  for  additional  grants, 
lest  by  so  doing  they  disturb  that  balance  which  the  pat 
riots  and  statesmen  who  framed  the  constitution  designed 
to  establish  between  the  federal  government  and  the  states 
composing  the  Union. 

The  observance  of  these  rules  is  enjoined  upon  us  by 
that  feeling  of  reverence  and  affection  which  finds  a  place 
in  the  heart  of  every  patriot  for  the  preservation  of  union 
and  the  blessings  of  union  —  for  the  good  of  our  children 
and  our  children's  children,  through  countless  genera 
tions.  An  opposite  course  could  not  fail  to  generate  fac 
tions,  intent  upon  the  gratification  of  their  selfish  ends; 
to  give  birth  to  local  and  sectional  jealousies,  and  to  ulti 
mate  either  in  breaking  asunder  the  bonds  of  union,  or  in 
building  up  a  central  system  which  would  inevitably  end  in 
a  bloody  sceptre  and  an  iron  crown. 

In  conclusion,  I  beg  you  to  be  assured  that  I  shall  exert 
myself  to  carry  the  foregoing  principles  into  practice  dur 
ing  my  administraton  of  the  government,  and,  confiding 
in  the  protecting  care  of  an  ever-watchful  and  overruling 
Providence,  it  shall  be  my  first  and  highest  duty  to  preserve 
unimpaired  the  free  institutions  under  which  we  live,  and 
transmit  them  to  those  who  shall  succeed  me  in  their  full 
force  and  vigor. 


TYLER'S  EXTRA  SESSION  MESSAGE. 

JUNE  1,  1841. 

To  the  Senate  and 

House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  : 

FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  You  have  been  assembled  in  your 
respective  halls  of  legislation  under  a  proclamation  bear 
ing  the  signature  of  the  illustrious  citizen  who  was  so 
lately  called  by  the  direct  suffrages  of  the  people  to  the 


262  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

discharge  of  the  important  functions  of  their  chief  execu 
tive  office.  Upon  the  expiration  of  a  single  month  from 
the  day  of  his  installation,  he  has  paid  the  great  debt  of 
nature,  leaving  behind  him  a  name  associated  with  the 
recollection  of  numerous  benefits  conferred  upon  the  coun 
try  during  a  long  life  of  patriotic  devotion.  With  this  pub 
lic  bereavement  are  connected  other  considerations,  which 
will  not  escape  the  attention  of  Congress.  The  prepara 
tions  necessary  for  his  removal  to  the  seat  of  government, 
in  view  of  a  residence  of  four  years,  must  have  devolved 
upon  the  late  President  heavy  expenditures,  which,  if  per 
mitted  to  burden  the  limited  resources  of  his  private 
fortune,  may  tend  to  the  serious  embarrassment  of  his 
surviving  family;  and  it  is  therefore  respectfully  submitted 
to  Congress  whether  the  ordinary  principles  of  justice 
would  not  dictate  the  propriety  of  its  legislative  interpo 
sition.  By  the  provisions  of  the  fundamental  law,  the 
powers  and  duties  of  the  high  station  to  which  he  was 
elected  have  devolved  upon  me,  and  in  the  dispositions  of 
the  representatives  of  the  states  and  of  the  people  will  be 
found  to  a  great  extent  a  solution  of  the  problem  to  which 
our  institutions  are  for  the  first  time  subjected. 

In  entering  upon  the  duties  of  this  office,  I  did  not  feel 
that  it  would  be  becoming  in  me  to  disturb  what  had  been 
ordered  by  my  lamented  predecessor.  Whatever,  there 
fore,  may  have  been  my  opinion,  originally,  as  to  the  pro 
priety  of  convening  Congress  at  so  early  a  day  from  that 
of  its  late  adjournment,  I  found  a  new  and  a  controlling 
inducement  not  to  interfere  with  the  patriotic  desires  of 
the  late  President,  in  the  novelty  of  the  situation  in  which 
I  was  so  unexpectedly  placed.  My  first  wish  under  such 
circumstances  would  necessarily  have  been  to  have  called 
to  my  aid,  in  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  the  com 
bined  wisdom  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  in  order  to 
take  their  counsel  and  advice  as  to  the  best  mode  of  ex 
tricating  the  government  and  the  country  from  the  em 
barrassments  weighing  heavily  on  both.  I  am  then  most 
happy  in  finding  myself,  so  soon  after  my  accession  to  the 
Presidency,  surrounded  by  the  immediate  representatives 
of  the  states  and  people. 

No  important  changes  having  taken  place  in  our  for- 


263 

eign  relations  since  the  last  session  of  Congress,  it  is  not 
deemed  necessary,  on  this  occasion,  to  go  into  a  detailed 
statement  in  regard  to  them.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  I 
see  nothing  to  destroy  the  hope  of  being  able  to  preserve 
peace. 

The  ratification  of  the  treaty  with  Portugal  has  been 
duly  exchanged  between  the  two  governments.  This  gov 
ernment  has  not  been  inattentive  to  the  interests  of  those 
of  our  citizens  who  have  claims  on  the  government  of 
Spain  founded  on  express  treaty  stipulations,  and  a  hope 
is  indulged  that  the  representations  which  have  been  made 
to  that  government  on  this  subject  may  lead  ere  Jong  to 
beneficial  results. 

A  correspondence  has  taken  place  between  the  secretary 
of  state  and  the  minister  of  her  Britannic  majesty  ac 
credited  to  this  government,  on  the  subject  of  Alexander 
McLeod's  indictment  and  imprisonment,  copies  of  which 
are  herewith  communicated  to  Congress. 

In  addition  to  what  appears  from  these  papers,  it 
may  be  proper  to  state  that  Alexander  McLeod  has  been 
heard  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  New  York 
on  his  motion  to  be  discharged  from  imprisonment,  and 
that  the  decision  of  that  court  has  not  as  yet  been  pro 
nounced. 

The  secretary  of  state  has  addressed  to  me  a  piper  upon 
two  subjects,  interesting  to  the  commerce  of  the  country, 
which  will  receive  my  consideration,  and  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  communicate  to  Congress. 

So  far  as  it  depends  on  the  course  of  this  government, 
our  relations  of  good-will  and  friendship  will  be  sedulously 
cultivated  with  all  nations.  The  true  American  policy  will 
be  found  to  consist  in  the  exercise  of  a  spirit  of  justice  to 
be  manifested  in  the  discharge  of  all  our  international  ob 
ligations,  to  the  weakest  of  the  family  of  nations  as  well  as 
to  the  most  powerful.  Occasional  conflicts  of  opinion  may 
arise,  but  when  the  discussions  incident  to  them  are  con 
ducted  in  the  language  of  truth  and  with  a  strict  regard  to 
justice,  the  scourge  of  war  will  for  the  most  part  be 
avoided.  The  time  ought  to  be  regarded  as  having  gone 
by  when  a  resort  to  arms  is  to  be  esteemed  as  the  only 
proper  arbiter  of  national  differences. 


264  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

The  census  recently  taken  shows  a  regularly  progres 
sive  increase  in  our  population.  Upon  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war  of  the  revolution,  our  numbers  scarcely  equalled 
three  millions  of  souls:  they  already  exceed  seventeen 
millions,  and  will  continue  to  increase  in  a  ratio  which 
duplicates  in  a  period  of  about  twenty-three  years.  The 
old  states  contain  a  territory  sufficient  in  itself  to  maintain 
a  population  of  additional  millions,  arid  the  most  populous 
of  the  new  states  may  even  yet  be  regarded  as  but  par 
tially  settled,  while  of  the  new  lands  on  this  side  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  to  say  nothing  of  the  immense  region 
which  stretches  from  the  base  of  those  mountains  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  about  770,000,000  of  acres, 
ceded  and  unceded,  still  remain  to  be  brought  into  mar 
ket.  We  hold  out  to  the  people  of  other  countries  an  in 
vitation  to  come  and  settle  among  us  as  members  of  our 
rapidly-growing  family  ;  and,  for  the  blessings  which  we 
offer  them,  we  require  of  them  to  look  upon  our  country 
as  their  country,  and  to  unite  with  us  in  the  great  task  of 
preserving  our  institutions  and  thereby  perpetuating  our 
liberties.  No  motive  exists  for  foreign  conquests.  We 
desire  but  to  reclaim  our  almost  illimitable  wildernesses, 
and  to  introduce  into  their  depths  the  lights  of  civilization. 
While  we  shall  at  all  times  be  prepared  to  vindicate  the 
national  honor,  our  most  earnest  desire  will  be  to  maintain 
an  unbroken  peace. 

In  presenting  the  foregoing  views,  I  cannot  withhold 
the  expression  of  the  opinion  that  there  exists  nothing  in 
the  extension  of  our  empire  over  our  acknowledged  pos 
sessions  to  excite  the  alarm  of  the  patriot  for  the  safety  of 
our  institutions.  The  federative  system,  leaving  to  each 
state  the  care  of  its  domestic  concerns,  and  devolving  on 
the  federal  government  those  of  general  import,  admits  in 
safety  of  the  greatest  expansion :  but,  at  the  same  time,  I 
deem  it  proper  to  add  that  there  will  be  found  to  exist  at 
all  times  an  imperious  necessity  for  restraining  all  the 
functionaries  of  this  government  within  the  range  of  their 
respective  powers,  thereby  preserving  a  just  balance  be 
tween  the  powers  granted  to  this  government  and  those 
reserved  to  the  states  and  to  the  people. 

From  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  you 


265 

will  perceive  that  the  fiscal  means  present  and  accruing 
are  insufficient  co  supply  the  wants  of  the  government  for 
the  current  year.  The  balance  in  the  treasury  on  the 
fourth  day  of  March  last,  not  covered  by  outstanding  drafts, 
and  exclusive  of  trust  funds,  is  estimated  at  $869,000. 
This  includes  the  sum  of  $215,000  deposited  in  the  Mint 
and  its  branches  to  procure  metal  for  coining,  and  in  the 
process  of  coinage,  and  which  could  not  be  withdrawn 
without  inconvenience ;  thus  leaving  subject  to  draft  in 
the  various  depositories  the  sum  of  $645,000.  By  virtue 
of  two  several  acts  of  Congress,  the  secretary  of  the  treas 
ury  was  authorized  to  issue,  on  and  after  the  fourth  day 
of  March  last,  treasury  notes  to  the  amount  of  $5,413,000, 
making  an  aggregate  available  fund  of  $6,058,000  on  hand. 

But  this  fund  was  chargeable  with  outstanding  treasury 
notes  redeemable  in  the  current  year  and  interest  thereon 
to  the  estimated  amount  of  five  millions  two  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  dollars.  There  is  also  thrown  upon  the 
treasury  the  payment  of  a  large  amount  of  demands  ac 
crued  in  whole  or  in  part  in  former  years,  which  will  ex 
haust  the  available  means  of  the  treasury,  and  leave  the 
accruing  revenue,  reduced  as  it  is  in  amount,  burdened 
with  debt  and  charged  with  the  current  expenses  of  the 
government.  The  aggregate  amount  of  outstanding 
appropriations  on  the  fourth  day  of  March  last  was 
$33,4-29,616  59,  of  which  $24,210,000  will  be  required 
during  the  current  year ;  and  there  will  also  be  required 
for  the  use  of  the  war  department  additional  appropri 
ations  to  the  amount  of  $2,511,132  93,  the  special  ob 
jects  of  which  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  report  of 
the  secretary  of  war. 

The  anticipated  means  of  the  treasury  are  greatly  in 
adequate  to  this  demand.  The  receipts  from  customs  for 
the  last  three  quarters  of  the  last  year,  and  the  first  quar 
ter  of  the  present  year,  amounted  to  $12,100,000;  the  re 
ceipts  for  lands  for  the  same  time  to  $2,742,439  69  ;  show 
ing  an  average  revenue  from  both  sources  of  $1,236,870 
per  month.  A  gradual  expansion  of  trade,  growing  out 
of  a  restoration  of  confidence,  together  with  a  reduction 
in  the  expenses  of  collecting,  and  punctuality  on  the  part 
of  collecting  officers,  may  cause  an  addition  to  the  monthly 
23 


266  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

receipts  from  the  customs.  They  are  estim-ated  for  the 
residue  of  the  year  from  the  4th  of  March  at  $12,000,000 ; 
the  receipts  from  the  public  lands  for  the  same  time  are 
estimated  at  $2,590,000;  and  from  miscellaneous  sources 
at  $170,000;  making  an  aggregate  of  available  funds 
within  the  year  of  $  14,670,000;  which  will  leave  a  prob 
able  deficit  of  $11,406,000.  To  meet  this,  some  tem 
porary  provision  is  necessary,  until  the  amount  can  be 
absorbed  by  the  excess  of  revenues  which  are  anticipated 
to  accrue  at  no  distant  day. 

There  will  fall  due  within  the  next  three  months  treas 
ury  notes  of  the  issues  of  1840,  including  interest,  about 
$2,850,000.  There  is  chargeable  in  the  same  period  for 
arrearages  for  taking  the  sixth  census  $294,000;  and  the 
estimated  expenditures  for  the  current  service  are  about 
$8,100,000,  making  the  aggregate  demand  upon  the  treasu 
ry,  prior  to  the  1st  of  September  next,  about  $11,340,000. 

The  ways  and  means  in  the  treasury,  and  estimated  to 
accrue  within  the  above-named  period,  consist  of  about 
$694,000,  of  funds  available  on  the  28th  ultimo ;  an  un 
issued  balance  of  treasury  notes  authorized  by  the  act  of 
1841  amounting  to  $1,955,000,  and  estimated  receipts 
from  all  sources  of  $3,800,000,  making  an  aggregate  of 
about  $6,450,000,  and  leaving  a  probable  deficit  on  the 
1st  of  September  next  of  about  $4,845,000. 

In  order  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  government,  an  in 
telligent  constituency,  in  view  of  their  best  interests,  will, 
without  hesitation,  submit  to  all  necessary  burdens.  But 
it  is  nevertheless  important  so  to  impose  them  as  to  avoid 
defeating  the  just  expectations  of  the  country,  growing 
out  of  preexisting  laws.  The  act  of  the  2d  March,  1833, 
commonly  called  the  compromise  act,  should  not  be  altered 
except  under  urgent  necessities,  which  are  not  believed  at 
this  time  to  exist.  One  year  only  remains  to  complete 
the  series  of  reductions  provided  for  by  that  law,  at  which 
time  provisions  made  by  the  same  law,  and  which  then 
will  be  brought  actively  in  aid  of  the  manufacturing  in 
terests  of  the  Union,  will  not  fail  to  produce  the  most  ben 
eficial  results.  Under  a  system  of  discriminating  duties 
imposed  for  purposes  of  revenue,  in  unison  with  the  pro 
visions  of  existing  laws,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  our  policy 


267 

will,  in  the  future,  be  fixed  and  permanent,  so  as  to  avoid 
those  constant  fluctuations  which  defeat  the  very  objects 
they  have  in  view.  We  shall  thus  best  maintain  a  posi 
tion  which,  while  it  will  enable  us  the  more  readily  to  meet 
the  advances  of  other  countries  calculated  to  promote  our 
trade  and  commerce,  will,  at  the  same  time,  leave  in  our 
own  hands  the  means  of  retaliating  with  greater  effect 
unjust  regulations. 

In  intimate  connection  with  the  question  of  revenue  is 
that  which  makes  provision  for  a  suitable  fiscal  agent  ca 
pable  of  adding  increased  facilities  in  the  collection  and 
disbursement  of  the  public  revenues,  rendering  more  se 
cure  their  custody,  and  consulting  a  true  economy  in  the 
great,  multiplied,  and  delicate  operations  of  the  treasury 
department.  Upon  such  an  agent  depends,  in  an  eminent 
degree,  the  establishment  of  a  currency  of  uniform  value, 
which  is  of  so  great  importance  to  all  the  essential  inter 
ests  of  society;  and  on  the  wisdom  to  be  manifested  in 
its  creation  much  depends.  So  intimately  interwoven 
are  its  operations  not  only  with  the  interests  of  individuals, 
but  of  states,  that  it  may  be  regarded  in  a  great  degree 
as  controlling  both.  If  paper  be  used  as  the  chief  medi 
um  of  circulation,  and  the  power  be  vested  in  the  govern 
ment  of  issuing  it  at  pleasure,  either  in  the  form  of  treas 
ury  drafts  or  any  other,  or  if  banks  be  used  as  the  public 
depositories,  with  liberty  to  regard  all  surpluses,  from 
day  to  day,  as  so  much  added  to  their  active  capital,  prices 
are  exposed  to  constant  fluctuations,  and  industry  to  se 
vere  suffering.  In  the  one  case,  political  considerations, 
directed  to  party  purposes,  may  control,  while  excessive 
cupidity  may  prevail  in  the  other.  The  public  is  thus 
constantly  liable  to  imposition.  Expansions  and  contrac 
tions  may  follow  each  other  in  rapid  succession,  the  one 
engendering  a  reckless  spirit  of  adventure  and  speculation, 
which  embraces  states  as  well  as  individuals  ;  the  other 
causing  a  fall  in  prices,  and  accomplishing  an  entire 
change  in  the  aspect  of  affairs.  Stocks  of  all  kinds  rap 
idly  decline,  individuals  are  ruined,  and  states  embar 
rassed  even  in  their  efforts  to  meet  with  punctuality  the 
interest  on  their  debts.  Such,  unhappily,  is  the  condi 
tion  of  things  now  existing  in  the  United  States.  The^e 


268  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

effects  may  readily  be  traced  to  the  causes  above  referred 
to.  The  public  revenues,  on  being  removed  from  the 
then  Bank  of  the  United  States,  under  an  order  of  a  late 
President,  were  placed  in  selected  state  banks,  which, 
actuated  by  the  double  motive  of  conciliating  the  govern 
ment  and  augmenting  their  profits  to  the  greatest  possible 
extent,  enlarged  extravagantly  their  discounts,  thus  ena 
bling  all  other  existing  banks  to  do  the  same.  Large 
dividends  were  declared,  which,  stimulating  the  cupidity 
of  capitalists,  caused  a  rush  to  be  made  to  the  legislatures 
of  the  respective  states  for  similar  acts  of  incorporation, 
which,  by  many  of  the  states,  under  a  temporary  infatu 
ation,  were  readily  granted,  and  thus  the  augmentation 
of  the  circulating  medium,  consisting  almost  exclusively 
of  paper,  produced  a  most  fatal  delusion. 

An  illustration,  derived  from  the  land  sales  of  the  period 
alluded  to,  will  serve  best  to  show  the  effect  of  the  whole 
system.  The  average  sales  of  the  public  lands,  for  a 
period  of  ten  years  prior  to  1834,  had  not  much  exceeded 
$2,000,000  per  annum.  In  1834  they  attained,  in  round 
numbers,  to  the  amount  of  $6,000,000.  In  the  succeed 
ing  year  of  1835  they  reached  $16,000,000.  And  in 
1836  they  amounted  to  the  enormous  sum  of  $25,000,000. 
Thus  crowding  into  the  short  space  of  three  years  up 
wards  of  twenty-three  years'  purchase  of  the  public  do 
main.  So  apparent  had  become  the  necessity  of  arresting 
this  course  of  things,  that  the  executive  department  as 
sumed  the  highly-questionable  power  of  discriminating  in 
the  funds  to  be  used  in  payment  by  different  classes  of 
public  debtors  —  a  discrimination  which  was  doubtless  de 
signed  to  correct  this  most  ruinous  state  of  things  by  the 
exaction  of  specie  in  all  payments  for  the  public  lands, 
but  which  could  not  at  once  arrest  the  tide  which  had  so 
strongly  set  in.  Hence  the  demands  for  specie  became 
unceasing,  and  corresponding  prostration  rapidly  ensued 
under  the  necessities  created  with  the  banks  to  curtail 
their  discounts,  and  thereby  to  reduce  their  circulation. 
I  recur  to  these  things  with  no  disposition  to  censure  pre 
existing  administrations  of  the  government,  but  simply  in 
exemplification  of  the  truth  of  the  position  which  I  have 
assumed.  If,  then,  any  fiscal  agent  which  may  be  created 


269 

shall  be  placed,  without  due  restrictions,  either  in  the 
hands  of  the  administrators  of  the  government  or  those 
of  private  individuals,  the  temptation  to  abuse  will  prove 
to  be  resistless.  Objects  of  political  aggrandizement  may 
seduce  the  first,  and  the  promptings  of  a  boundless  cupid 
ity  will  assail  the  last.  Aided  by  the  experience  of  the 
past,  it  will  be  the  pleasure  of  Congress  so  to  guard  and 
fortify  the  public  interests,  in  the  creation  of  any  new 
agent,  as  to  place  them,  so  far  as  human  wisdom  can  ac 
complish  it,  on  a  footing  of  perfect  security.  Within  a 
few  years  past,  three  different  schemes  have  been  before 
the  country.  The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  expired  by  its  own  limitations  in  1836.  An  effort 
was  made  to  renew  it,  which  received  the  sanction  of  the 
two  houses  of  Congress ;  but  the  then  President  of  the 
United  States  exercised  his  veto  power,  and  the  mea 
sure  was  defeated.  A  regard  to  truth  requires  me  to  say 
that  the  President  was  fully  sustained  in  the  course  he 
had  taken  by  the  popular  voice.  His  successor  in  the  chair 
of  state  unqualifiedly  pronounced  his  opposition  to  any 
new  charter  of  a  similar  institution  ;  and  not  only  the 
popular  election  which  brought  him  into  power,  but  the 
elections  through  much  of  his  term,  seemed  clearly  to  in 
dicate  a  concurrence  with  him  in  sentiment  on  the  part 
of  the  people.  After  the  public  moneys  were  withdrawn 
from  the  United  States  Bank,  they  were  placed  in  deposit 
with  the  state  banks,  and  the  result  of  that  policy  has 
been  before  the  country.  To  say  nothing  as  to  the  ques 
tions  whether  that  experiment  was  made  under  propitious 
or  adverse  circumstances,  it  may  safely  be  asserted  that  it 
did  receive  the  unqualified  condemnation  of  most  of  its 
early  advocates,  and,  it  is  believed,  was  also  condemned  by 
the  popular  sentiment.  The  existing  sub-treasury  system 
does  not  seem  to  stand  in  higher  favor  with  the  people, 
but  has  recently  been  condemned  in  a  manner  too  plainly 
indicated  to  admit  of  a  doubt.  Thus,  in  the  short  period 
of  eight  years,  the  popular  voice  may  be  regarded  as 
having  successively  condemned  each  of  the  three  schemes 
of  finance  to  which  I  have  adverted.  As  to  the  first,  it 
was  introduced  at  a  time  (1816)  when  the  state  banks, 
then  comparatively  few  in  number,  had  been  forced  to 
23* 


270  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN 

suspend  specie  payments,  by  reason  of  the  war  which  h?d 
previously  prevailed  with  Great  Britain.  Whether,  if  the 
United  States  Bank  charter,  which  expired  in  1811,  had 
been  renewed  in  due  season,  it  would  have  been  enabled 
to  continue  specie  payments  during  the  war  and  the  dis 
astrous  period  to  the  commerce  of  the  country  which  im 
mediately  succeeded,  is,  to  say  the  least,  problematical ; 
and  whether  the  United  States  Bank  of  1816  produced  a 
restoration  of  specie  payments,  or  the  same  was  accom 
plished  through  the  instrumentality  of  other  means,  was 
a  matter  of  some  difficulty  at  that  time  to  determine. 
Certain  it  is  that,  for  the  first  years  of  the  operation  of 
that  bank,  its  course  was  as  disastrous  as  for  the  greater 
part  of  its  subsequent  career  it  became  eminently  success 
ful.  As  to  the  second,  the  experiment  was  tried  with  a 
redundant  treasury,  which  continued  to  increase  until  it 
seemed  to  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  distribute  the  surplus 
revenue  among  the  states,  which,  operating  at  the  same 
'time  with  the  specie  circular,  and  the  causes  before  ad 
verted  to,  caused  them  to  suspend  specie  payments,  and 
involved  the  country  in  the  greatest  embarrassment.  And, 
as  to  the  third,  if  carried  through  all  the  stages  of  its 
transmutation,  from  paper  and  specie  to  nothing  but  the 
precious  metals,  to  say  nothing  of  the  insecurity  of  the 
public  moneys,  its  injurious  effects  have  been  anticipated 
by  the  country  in  its  unqualified  condemnation.  What 
is  now  to  be  regarded  as  the  judgment  of  the  American 
people  on  this  whole  subject,  I  have  no  accurate  means 
of  determining,  but  by  appealing  to  their  more  immediate 
representatives.  The  late  contest,  which  terminated  in 
the  election  of  General  Harrison  to  the  Presidency,  was 
decided  on  principles  well  known  and  openly  declared  ; 
and,  while  the  sub-treasury  received  in  the  result  the 
most  decided  condemnation,  yet  no  other  scheme  of 
finance  seemed  to  have  been  concurred  in.  To  you,  then, 
who  have  come  more  directly  from  the  body  of  our  com 
mon  constituents,  I  submit  the  entire  question,  as  best 
qualified  to  give  a  full  exposition  of  their  wishes  and 
opinions.  I  shall  be  ready  to  concur  with  you  in  the 
adoption  of  such  system  as  you  may  propose,  reserving 
to  myself  the  ultimate  power  of  rejecting  any  measure 


TYLER'S  EXTRA  SESSION  MESSAGE.  271 

which  may,  in  my  view  of  it,  conflict  with  the  constitution, 
or  otherwise  jeopard  the  prosperity  of  the  country  —  a 
power  which  I  could  not  part  with  even  if  I  would,  but 
which  I  will  not  believe  any  act  of  yours  will  call  into 
requisition. 

I  cannot  avoid  recurring,  in  connection  with  this  subject, 
to  the  necessity  which  exists  for  adopting  some  suitable 
measure  whereby  the  unlimited  creation  of  banks  by  the 
states  may  be  corrected  in  future.  Such  result  can  be 
most  readily  achieved  by  the  consent  of  the  states,  to  be 
expressed  in  the  form  of  a  compact  among  themselves, 
which  they  can  only  enter  into  with  the  consent  and  appro 
bation  of  this  government  —  a  consent  which,  in  the  present 
emergency  of  the  public  demands,  may  justifiably  be  given 
by  Congress  in  advance  of  any  action  by  the  states  as  an 
inducement  to  such  action  upon  terms  well  defined  by  the 
act  of  tender.  Such  a  measure,  addressing  itself  to  the 
calm  reflection  of  the  states,  would  find  in  the  experience 
of  the  past  and  the  condition  of  the  present,  much  to  sustain 
it.  And  it  is  greatly  to  be  doubted  whether  any  scheme 
of  finance  can  prove  for  any  length  of  time  successful  while 
the  states  shall  continue  in  the  unrestrained  exercise  of  the 
power  of  creating  banking  corporations.  This  power  can 
only  be  limited  by  their  consent. 

With  the  adoption  of  a  financial  agency  of  a  satisfactory 
character,  the  hope  may  be  indulged  that  the  country  may 
once  more  return  to  a  state  of  prosperity.  Measures  aux 
iliary  thereto,  and,  in  some  measure,  inseparably  connected 
with  its  success,  will  doubtless  claim  the  attention  of  Con 
gress.  Among  such,  a  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  the  public  lands,  provided  such  distribution  does  not 
force  upon  Congress  the  necessity  of  imposing  upon  com 
merce  heavier  burdens  than  those  contemplated  by  the  act 
of  1833,  would  act  as  an  efficient  remedial  measure  by 
being  brought  directly  in  aid  of  the  states.  As  one  sin 
cerely  devoted  to  the  task  of  preserving  a  just  balance  in 
our  system  of  government,  by  the  maintenance  of  the  states 
in  a  condition  the  most  free  and  respectable,  and  in  the  full 
possession  of  all  their  power,  I  can  no  otherwise  than  feel 
desirous  for  their  emancipation  from  the  situation  to  which 
the  pressure  on  their  finances  now  subjects  them.  And, 


272  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

while  I  must  repudiate  as  a  measure  founded  in  error,  and 
wanting  constitutional  sanction,  the  slightest  approach  to 
an  assumption  by  this  government  of  the  debts  of  the  states, 
yet  I  can  see,  in  the  distribution  adverted  to,  much  to  rec 
ommend  it.  The  compacts  between  the  proprietor  states 
and  this  government  expressly  guaranty  to  the  states  all  the 
benefits  which  may  arise  from  the  sales.  The  mode  by 
which  this  is  to  be  effected  addresses  itself  to  the  discretion 
of  Congress,  as  the  trustee  for  the  states ;  and  its  exercise, 
after  the  most  beneficial  manner,  is  restrained  by  nothing 
in  the  grants  or  in  the  constitution,  so  long  as  Congress 
shall  consult  that  equality  in  the  distribution  which  the 
compacts  require.  In  the  present  condition  of  some  of 
the  states,  the  question  of  distribution  may  be  regarded  as 
substantially  a  question  between  direct  and  indirect  taxa 
tion.  If  the  distribution  be  not  made  in  some  form  or 
other,  the  necessity  will  daily  become  more  urgent  with 
the  debtor  states  for  a  resort  to  an  oppressive  system  of 
direct  taxation,  or  their  credit,  and  necessarily  their  power 
and  influence,  will  be  greatly  diminished.  The  payment 
of  taxes,  after  the  most  inconvenient  and  oppressive  mode, 
will  be  exacted  in  place  of  contributions  for  the  most  part 
voluntarily  made,  and  therefore  comparatively  unoppressive. 
The  states  are  emphatically  the  constituents  of  this  gov 
ernment  ;  and  we  should  be  entirely  regardless  of  the  ob 
jects  held  in  view  by  them  in  the  creation  of  this  govern 
ment  if  we  could  be  indifferent  to  their  good.  The  happy 
effects  of  such  a  measure  upon  all  the  states  would  imme 
diately  be  manifested.  With  the  debtor  states  it  would 
effect  the  relief,  to  a  great  extent,  of  the  citizens  from  a 
heavy  burden  of  direct  taxation,  which  presses  with  severity 
on  the  laboring  classes,  and  eminently  assist  in  restoring 
the  general  prosperity.  An  immediate  advance  wculd  take 
place  in  the  price  of  the  state  securities,  and  the  attitude 
of  the  states  would  become  once  more,  as  it  should  ever 
be,  lofty  and  erect.  With  states  laboring  under  no  ex 
treme  pressure  from  debt,  the  fund  which  they  would  derive 
from  this  source  wculd  enable  them  to  improve  their  condi 
tion  in  an  eminent  degree.  So  far  as  this  government  is 
concerned,  appropriations  to  domestic  objects,  approaching 
in  amount  the  revenue  derived  from  the  land  sales,  might 


273 

be  abandoned,  and  thus  a  system  of  unequal  and  therefore 
unjust  legislation  would  be  substituted  by  one  dispensing 
equality  to  all  the  members  of  this  confederacy.  Whether 
such  distribution  should  be  made  directly  to  the  states  in 
the  proceeds  of  the  sales,  or  in  the  form  of  profits  by  virtue 
of  the  operations  of  any  fiscal  agency  having  these  proceeds 
as  its  basis,  should  such  measure  be  contemplated  by  Con 
gress,  would  well  deserve  its  consideration.  Nor  would 
such  disposition  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  in  any  man 
ner  prevent  Congress  from  time  to  time  from  passing  all 
necessary  preemption  laws  for  the  benefit  of  actual  settlers, 
or  from  making  any  new  arrangement  as  to  the  price  of  the 
public  lands  which  might  in  future  be  esteemed  desirable. 

I  beg  leave  particularly  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
accompanying  report  from  the  secretary  of  war.  Besides 
the  present  state  of  the  war  which  has  so  long  afflicted 
the  territory  of  Florida,  and  the  various  other  matters 
of  interest  therein  referred  to,  you  will  learn  from  it  that 
the  secretary  has  instituted  an  inquiry  into  abuses,  which 
promises  to  develop  great  enormities  in  connection  with 
Indian  treaties  which  have  been  negotiated,  as  well  as  in 
the  expenditures  for  the  removal  and  subsistence  of  the 
Indians.  He  represents,  also,  other  irregularities  of  a 
serious  nature  that  have  grown  up  in  the  practice  of  the 
Indian  department,  which  will  require  the  appropriation 
of  upwards  of  $200,009  to  correct,  and  which  claim  the 
immediate  attention  of  Congress. 

In  reflecting  on  the  proper  means  of  defending  the 
country,  we  cannot  shut  our  eyes  to  the  consequences 
which  the  introduction  and  use  of  the  power  of  steam 
upon  the  ocean  are  likely  to  produce  in  wars  between 
maritime  states.  We  cannot  yet  see  the  extent  to  which 
this  power  may  be  applied  in  belligerent  operations,  con 
necting  itself  as  it  does  with  recent  improvements  in  the  sci 
ence  of  gunnery  and  projectiles;  but  we  need  have  no  fear 
of  being  left,  in  regard  to  these  things,  behind  the  most 
active  and  skilful  of  other  nations,  if  the  genius  and  en 
terprise  of  our  fellow-citizens  receive  proper  encourage 
ment  and  direction  from  government. 

True  wisdom  would,  nevertheless,  seem  to  dictate  the 
necessity  of  placing  in  perfect  condition  those  fortifications 


274  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

which  are  designed  for  the  protection  of  our  principal  cities 
and  roadsteads.  For  the  defence  of  our  extended  maritime 
coast,  our  chief  reliance  should  be  placed  en  our  navy, 
aided  by  those  inventions  which  are  destined  to  recommend 
themselves  to  public  adoption.  But  no  time  should  be  lost 
in  placing  our  principal  cities  on  the  seaboard  and  the 
lakes  in  a  state  of  entire  security  from  foreign  assault 
Separated  as  we  are  from  the  countries  of  the  old  world, 
and  in  much  unaffected  by  their  policy,  we  are  happily 
relieved  from  the  necessity  of  maintaining  large  standing 
armies  in  times  of  peace.  The  policy  which  was  adopted 
by  Mr.  Monroe,  shortly  after  the  conclusion  of  the  late  war 
with  Great  Britain,  of  preserving  a  regularly-organized 
staff  sufficient  for  the  command  of  a  large  military  force, 
should  the  necessity  for  one  arise,  is  founded  as  well  in 
economy  as  in  true  wisdom.  Provision  is  thus  made,  upon 
filling  up  the  rank  and  file,  which  can  readily  be  done  on 
any  emergency,  for  the  introduction  of  a  system  of  discipline 
both  promptly  and  efficiently.  All  that  is  required  in  time 
of  peace  is  to  maintain  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to  guard 
our  fortifications,  to  meet  any  sudden  contingency,  and  to 
encounter  the  first  shock  of  war.  Our  chief  reliance  must 
be  placed  on  the  militia.  They  constitute  the  great  body 
of  national  guards,  and,  inspired  by  an  ardent  love  of 
country,  will  be  found  ready  at  all  times  and  at  all  seasons 
to  repair  with  alacrity  to  its  defence.  It  will  be  regarded 
by  Congress,  I  doubt  not,  at  a  suitable  time,  as  one  of  its 
highest  duties  to  attend  to  their  complete  organization 
and  discipline. 

By  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  navy  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  state  of  the  navy  pension  fund  requires  the 
immediate  attention  of  Congress.  By  the  operation  of 
the  act  of  the  3d  of  March,  1837,  entitled  "  An  act  for  the 
more  equitable  administration  of  the  navy  pension  fund," 
that  fund  has  been  exhausted.  It  will  be  seen  that  there 
will  be  required  for  the  payment  of  navy  pensions,  on  the 
1st  of  July  next,  $88,706  06,  and  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1842,  the  sum  of  $69,000.  In  addition  to  these  sums, 
about  $6,000  will  be  required  to  pay  arrears  of  pensions 
which  will  probably  be  allowed  between  the  1st  of  July 
and  the  1st  of  January,  1842,  making  in  the  whole 


275 

$163,706  06.  To  meet  these  payments,  there  is  within 
the  control  of  the  department  the  sum  of  $23,043,  leaving 
a  deficit  of  $139,6615  06.  The  public  faith  requires  that 
immediate  provision  should  be  made  for  the  payment  of 
these  sums. 

In  order  to  introduce  into  the  navy  a  desirable  efficien 
cy,  a  new  system  of  accountability  may  be  found  to  be 
indispensably  necessary.  To  mature  a  plan  having  for 
its  object  the  accomplishment  of  an  end  so  important,  and 
to  meet  the  just  expectations  of  the  country,  require  more 
time  than  has  yet  been  allowed  to  the  secretary  at  the 
head  of  that  department.  The  hope  is  indulged  that,  by 
the  time  of  your  next  regular  session,  measures  of  impor 
tance,  in  connection  with  this  branch  of  the  public  service, 
may  be  matured  for  your  consideration. 

Although  the  laws  regulating  the  post-office  depart 
ment  only  require  from  the  officer  charged  with  its  direc 
tion  to  report  at  the  usual  annual  session  of  Congress,  the 
postmaster-general  has  presented  me  with  some  ficts 
connected  with  the  financial  condition  of  the  department 
which  are  deemed  worthy  the  attention  of  Congress.  By 
the  accompanying  report  of  that  officer,  it  appears  that  the 
existing  liabilities  of  that  department  beyond  the  means 
of  payment  at  its  command  cannot  be  less  than  $500,090. 
As  the  laws  organizing  that  branch  of  the  public  service 
confine  the  expenditure  to  its  own  revenues,  deficiencies 
therein  cannot  be  presented  under  the  usual  estimates  for 
the  expenses  of  government.  It  must  therefore  be  left  to 
Congress  to  determine  whether  the  moneys  now  due  to 
contractors,  shall  be  paid  from  the  public  treasury,  or 
whether  that  department  shall  continue  under  its  present 
embarrassments.  It  will  be  seen  by  the  report  of  the 
postmaster-general  that  the  recent  lettings  of  contracts  in 
several  of  the  states  have  been  made  at  such  reduced 
rates  of  compensation  as  to  encourage  the  belief,  that  if 
the  department  was  relieved  from  existing  difficulties,  its 
future  operations  might  be  conducted  without  any  further 
call  upon  the  general  treasury. 

The  power  of  appointing  to  office  is  one  of  a  character 
the  most  delicate  and  responsible.  The  appointing  power 
is  evermore  exposed  to  be  led  into  error.  With  anxious 


276  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

solicitude  to  select  the  most  trustworthy  for  official  station, 
I  cannot  be  supposed  to  possess  a  personal  knowledge  of 
the  qualifications  of  every  applicant.  I  deem  it  therefore 
proper,  in  this  most  public  manner,  to  invite,  on  the  part 
of  the  Senate,  a  just  scrutiny  into  the  character  and  pre 
tensions  of  every  person  whom  I  may  bring  to  their  notice 
in  the  regular  form  of  a  nomination  to  office.  Unless  per 
sons  every  way  trustworthy  are  employed  in  the  public 
service,  corruption  and  irregularity  will  inevitably  follow. 
I  shall,  with  the  greatest  cheerfulness,  acquiesce  in  the 
decision  of  that  body,  and,  regarding  it  as  wisely  consti 
tuted  to  aid  the  executive  department  in  the  performance 
of  this  delicate  duty,  I  shall  look  to  its  "  consent  and  ad 
vice"  as  given  only  in  furtherance  of  the  best  interests  of 
the  country.  I  shall  also,  at  the  earliest  proper  occasion, 
invite  the  attention  of  Congress  to  such  measures  as  in 
my  judgment  will  be  best  calculated  to  regulate  and  con 
trol  the  executive  power  in  reference  to  this  vitally-im 
portant  subject. 

I  shall  also,  at  the  proper  season,  invite  your  attention 
to  the  statutory  enactments  for  the  suppression  of  the 
slave  trade,  which  may  require  to  be  rendered  more  effi 
cient  in  their  provisions.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that 
the  traffic  is  on  the  increase.  Whether  such  increase  is 
to  be  ascribed  to  the  abolition  of  slave  labor  in  the  British 
possessions  in  our  vicinity,  and  an  attendant  diminution  in 
the  supply  of  those  articles  which  enter  into  the  general 
consumption  of  the  world,  thereby  augmenting  the  demand 
from  other  quarters,  and  thus  calling  for  additional  labor, 
it  were  needless  to  inquire.  The  highest  considerations 
of  public  honor,  as  well  as  the  strongest  promptings  of  hu 
manity,  require  a  resort  to  the  most  vigorous  efforts  to 
suppress  the  trade. 

In  conclusion,  I  beg  leave  to  invite  your  particular  at 
tention  to  the  interests  of  this  District.  Nor  do  I  doubt 
but  that,  in  a  liberal  spirit  of  legislation,  you  will  seek 
to  advance  its  commercial  as  well  as  its  local  interests. 
Should  Congress  deem  it  to  be  its  duty  to  repeal  the  ex 
isting  sub-treasury  law,  the  necessity  of  providing  a  suit 
able  phce  of  deposit  for  the  public  moneys  which  may  be 
required  within  the  District  must  be  apparent  to  all. 


277 

I  have  felt  it  due  to  the  country  to  present  the  forego 
ing  topics  to  your  consideration  and  reflection.  Others, 
with  which  it.  might  not  seem  proper  to  trouble  you  at  an 
extraordinary  session,  will  be  laid  before  you  at  a  future 
day.  I  am  happy  in  committing  the  important  affairs  of 
the  country  into  your  hands.  The  tendency  of  public 
sentiment,  I  am  pleased  to  believe,  is  towards  the  adop 
tion,  in  a  spirit  of  union  and  harmony,  of  such  measures 
as  will  fortify  the  public  interests.  To  cherish  such  a 
tendency  of  public  opinion  is  the  task  of  an  elevated  pa 
triotism.  That  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  means  of 
accomplishing  these  desirable  objects  should  exist,  is 
reasonably  to  be  expected.  Nor  can  all  be  made  satisfied 
with  any  system  of  measures.  But  I  flatter  myself  with 
the  hope  that  the  great  body  of  the  people  will  readily 
unite  in  the  support  of  those  whose  efforts  spring  from  a 
disinterested  desire  to  promote  their  happiness ;  to  pre 
serve  the  federal  and  state  governments  within  their  re 
spective  orbits  ;  to  cultivate  peace  with  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  on  just  and  honorable  grounds  ;  to  exact  obe 
dience  to  the  laws;  to  intrench  liberty  and  property  in 
full  security ;  and,  consulting  the  most  rigid  economy,  to 
abolish  all  useless  expenses. 


JACKSON'S   MAYSVILLE   ROAD  VETO. 

MAY  27,  1830. 

To   the  House  of  Representatives  : 

GENTLEMEN  :  I  have  maturely  considered  the  bill  pro 
posing  to  authorize  "  a  subscription  of  stock  in  the  Mays- 
ville,  Washington,  Paris,  and  Lexington  Turnpike-Road 
Company,"  and  now  return  the  same  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  in  which  it  originated,  with  my  objections 
to  its  passage. 

Sincerely  friendly  to  the  improvement  of  our  country 
by  means  of  roads  and  canals,  I  regret  that  any  difference 
of  opinion  in  the  mode  of  contributing  to  it  should  exist 
24 


278  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

between  us ;  and  if,  in  stating  this  difference,  I  go  beyond 
what  the  occasion  may  be  deemed  to  call  for,  I  hope  to 
find  an  apology  in  the  great  importance  of  the  subject,  an 
unfeigned  respect  for  the  high  source  from  which  this 
branch  of  it  has  emanated,  and  an  anxious  wish  to  be 
correctly  understood  by  my  constituents  in  the  discharge 
of  all  my  duties.  Diversity  of  sentiment  among  public 
functionaries,  actuated  by  the  same  general  motives,  on  the 
character  and  tendency  of  particular  measures,  is  an  inci 
dent  common  to  all  governments,  and  the  more  to  be  ex 
pected  in  one  which,  like  ours,  owes  its  existence  to  the 
freedom  of  opinion,  and  must  be  upheld  by  the  same  influ 
ence.  Controlled,  as  we  thus  are,  by  a  higher  tribunal, 
before  which  our  respective  acts  will  be  canvassed  with 
the  indulgence  due  to  the  imperfections  of  our  nature,  and 
with  that  intelligence  and  unbiased  judgment  which  are 
the  true  correctives  of  error,  all  that  our  responsibility  de 
mands  is,  that  the  public  good  should  be  the  measure  of 
our  views,  dictating  alike  their  frank  expression  and  hon 
est  maintenance. 

In  the  message  which  was  presented  to  Congress  at  the 
opening  of  its  present  session,  I  endeavored  to  exhibit 
briefly  my  views  upon  the  important  and  highly-inter 
esting  subject  to  which  our  attention  is  now  to  be  directed. 
I  was  desirous  of  presenting  to  the  representatives  of  the 
several  states,  in  Congress  assembled,  the  inquiry,  whether 
some  mode  could  not  be  devised,  which  would  reconcile 
the  diversity  of  opinion  concerning  the  powers  of  this 
government  over  the  subject  of  internal  improvement,  and 
the  manner  in  which  these  powers,  if  conferred  by  the 
constitution,  ought  to  be  exercised.  The  act  which  I  am 
called  upon  to  consider  has  therefore  been  passed  with  a 
knowledge  of  my  views  on  this  question,  as  these  are 
expressed  in  the  message  referred  to.  In  that  document, 
the  following  suggestions  will  be  found  :  — 

"  After  the  extinction  of  the  public  debt,  it  is  not  prob 
able  that  any  adjustment  of  the  tariff,  upon  principles 
satisfactory  to  the  people  of  the  Union,  will,  until  a  remote 
period,  if  ever,  leave  the  government  without  a  consid 
erable  surplus  in  the  treasury,  beyond  what  may  be  re 
quired  for  its  current  service.  As,  then,  the  period  ap- 


JACKSON'S  MAYSVILLE  ROAD  VETO.          279 

proaches  when  the  application  of  the  revenue  to  the  pay- 
merit  of  debt  will  cease,  (he  disposition  of  the  surplus  will 
present  a  subject  for  the  serious  deliberation  of  Congress; 
and  it  may  be  fortunate  for  the  country  that  it  is  yet  to  be 
decided.  Considered  in  connection  with  the  difficulties 
which  have  heretofore  attended  appropriations  for  pur 
poses  of  internal  improvement,  and  with  those  which  this 
experience  tells  us  will  certainly  arise  whenever  power 
over  such  subjects  may  be  exercised  by  the  general  gov 
ernment,  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  lead  to  the  adoption  of 
some  plan  which  will  reconcile  the  diversified  interests  of 
the  states,  and  strengthen  the  bonds  which  unite  them. 
Every  member  of  the  Union,  in  peace  and  in  war,  will  be 
benefited  by  the  improvement  of  inland  navigation,  and 
the  construction  of  highways  in  the  several  states.  Let 
us,  then,  endeavor  to  attain  this  benefit  in  a  mode  which 
will  be  satisfactory  to  all.  That  hitherto  adopted  has,  by 
many  of  our  fellow-citizens,  been  deprecated  as  an  in 
fraction  of  the  constitution  ;  while  by  others  it  has  been 
viewed  as  inexpedient.  All  feel  that  it  has  been  employed 
at  the  expense  of  harmony  in  the  legislative  councils." 
And  adverting  to  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to 
make  what  I  consider  a  proper  disposition  of  the  surplus 
revenue,  I  subjoined  the  following  remarks:  "  To  avoid 
these  evils,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  most  safe,  just,  and 
federal  disposition  which  could  be  made  of  the  surplus 
revenue,  would  be  its  apportionment  among  the  several 
states  according  to  their  ratio  of  representation ;  and 
should  this  measure  not  be  found  warranted  by  the  consti 
tution,  that  it  would  be  expedient  to  propose  to  the  states 
an  amendment  authorizing  it." 

The  constitutional  power  of  the  federal  government  to 
construct  or  promote  works  of  internal  improvement,  pre 
sents  itself  in  two  points  of  view,  —  the  first,  as  bearing 
upon  the  sovereignty  of  the  states  within  whose  limits 
their  execution  is  contemplated,  if  jurisdiction  of  the  ter 
ritory  which  they  may  occupy  be  claimed  as  necessary  to 
their  preservation  and  use ;  the  second,  as  asserting  the 
simple  right  to  appropriate  money  from  the  national  treas 
ury  in  aid  of  such  works,  when  undertaken  by  state 
authority,  surrendering  the  claim  of  jurisdiction.  In  the 


280  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

first  view,  the  question  of  power  is  an  open  one,  and  can 
be  decided  without  the  embarrassment  attending  the  other, 
arising  from  the  practice  of  the  government.  Although 
frequently  and  strenuously  attempted,  the  power,  to  this 
extent,  has  never  been  exercised  by  the  government  in  a 
single  instance.  It  does  not,  in  my  opinion,  possess  it; 
and  DO  bill,  therefore,  which  admits  it,  can  receive  my 
official  sanction. 

But,  in  the  other  view  of  the  power,  the  question  is 
differently  situated.  The  ground  taken  at  an  early  period 
of  the  government  was,  "  that,  whenever  money  has  been 
raised  by  the  general  authority,  and  is  to  be  applied  to  a 
particular  measure,  a  question  arises,  whether  a  particular 
measure  be  within  the  enumerated  authorities  vested  in 
Congress.  If  it  be,  the  money  requisite  for  it  may  be  ap 
plied  to  it;  if  not,  no  such  application  can  be  made." 
The  document  in  which  this  principle  was  first  advanced 
is  of  deservedly  high  authority,  and  should  be  held  in 
grateful  remembrance  for  its  immediate  agency  in  res 
cuing  the  country  from  much  existing  abuse,  and  for  its 
conservative  effect  upon  some  of  the  most  valuable  prin 
ciples  of  the  constitution.  The  symmetry  and  purity  of 
the  government  would  doubtless  have  been  better  pre 
served  if  this  restriction  of  the  power  of  appropriation 
could  have  been  maintained  without  weakening  its  ability 
to  fulfil  the  general  objects  of  its  institution  —  an  effect  so 
likely  to  attend  its  admission,  notwithstanding  its  apparent 
fitness,  that  every  subsequent  administration  of  the  gov 
ernment,  embracing  a  period  of  thirty  out  of  forty-two 
years  of  its  existence,  has  adopted  a  more  enlarged  con 
struction  of  the  power.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  detain 
you  by  a  minute  recital  of  the  acts  which  sustain  this 
assertion,  but  it  is  proper  that  I  should  notice  some  of  the 
most  prominent,  in  order  that  the  reflections  which  they 
suggest  to  my  mind  may  be  better  understood. 

In  the  administration  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  we  have  two  ex 
amples  of  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  appropriation,  which, 
in  the  considerations  that  led  to  their  adoption,  and  in 
their  effects  upon  the  public  mind,  have  had  a  greater 
agency  in  marking  the  character  of  the  power  than  any 
subsequent  events.  I  allude  to  the  payment  of  fifteen 


JACKSON'S  MAYSVILLE  ROAD  VETO.          281 

millions  of  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  and  to 
the  origin  il  appropriation  for  the  construction  of  the  Cum 
berland  road  ;  the  latter  act  deriving  much  weight  from 
the  acquiescence  and  approbation  of  the  three  most  pow 
erful  of  the  original  members  of  the  confederacy,  expressed 
through  their  respective  legislatures.  Although  the  cir 
cumstances  of  the  latter  case  may  be  such  as  to  deprive 
so  much  of  it  as  relates  to  the  actual  construction  of  the 
road,  of  the  force  of  an  obligatory  exposition  of  the  con 
stitution,  it  must  nevertheless  be  admitted  that  so  far  as 
the  mere  appropriation  of  money  is  concerned,  they  pre 
sent  the  principle  in  its  most  imposing  aspect.  No  less 
than  twenty-three  different  laws  have  been  passed  through 
all  the  forms  of  the  constitution,  appropriating  upwards 
of  two  millions  and  a  half  dollars  out  of  the  national 
treasury  in  support  of  that  improvement,  with  the  appro 
bation  of  every  President  of  the  United  States,  including 
my  predecessor,  since  its  commencement. 

Independently  of  the  sanction  giving  appropriations  for 
the  Cumberland  and  other  roads  and  objects,  under  this 
power,  the  administration  of  Mr.  Madison  was  charac 
terized  by  an  act  which  furnishes  the  strongest  evidence 
of  its  extent.  A  bill  was  passed  through  both  houses  of 
Congress,  and  presented  for  his  approval,  "  setting  apart 
and  pledging  certain  funds  for  constructing  roads  and 
canals,  and  improving  the  navigation  of  watercourses,  in 
order  to  facilitate,  promote,  and  give  security  to  internal 
commerce  among  the  several  states,  and  to  render  more 
easy  and  less  expensive  the  means  and  provisions  for  the 
common  defence."  Regarding  the  bill  as  asserting  a 
power  in  the  federal  government  to  construct  roads  and 
canals  within  the  limits  of  the  states  in  which  they  were 
made,  he  objected  to  its  passage,  on  the  ground  of  its 
unconstitutionally,  declaring  that  the  assent  of  the  respec 
tive  states,  in  the  mode  provided  by  the  bill,  could  not 
confer  the  power  in  question  ;  that  the  only  cases  in 
which  the  consent  and  cession  of  particular  states  can 
extend  the  power  of  Congress,  are  those  specified  and 
provided  for  in  the  constitution ;  and  superadding  these 
avowals,  his  opinion  that  a  restriction  of  the  power  "  to 
provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare  "  to 
24* 


282  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

cases  which  are  to  be  provided  for  by  the  expenditure  of 
money,  would  still  leave  within  the  legislative  power  of 
Congress  all  the  great  and  most  important  measures  of 
government,  money  being  the  ordinary  and  necessary 
means  of  carrying  them  into  execution.  I  have  not  been 
able  to  consider  these  declarations  in  any  other  point  of 
view  than  as  a  concession  that  the  right  of  appropriation 
is  not  limited  by  the  power  to  carry  into  effect  the  meas 
ure  for  which  the  money  is  asked,  as  was  formerly  con 
tended. 

The  views  of  Mr.  Monroe  upon  this  subject  were  not 
left  to  inference.  During  his  administration,  a  bill  was 
passed  through  both  houses  of  Congress,  conferring  the 
jurisdiction,  and  prescribing  the  mode  by  which  the  fed 
eral  government  should  exercise  it,  in  the  case  of  the 
Cumberland  road.  He  returned  it,  with  objections  to  its 
passage,  and,  in  assigning  them,  took  occasion  to  say, 
that  in  the  early  stages  of  the  government,  he  had  inclined 
to  the  construction  that  it  had  no  right  to  expend  money 
except  in  the  performance  of  acts  authorized  by  the  other 
specific  grants  of  power,  according  to  a  strict  construc 
tion  of  them ;  but  that,  on  further  reflection  and  observa 
tion,  his  mind  had  undergone  a  change  ;  that  his  opinion 
then  was,  "  that  Congress  have  an  unlimited  power  to 
raise  money,  and  that  in  its  appropriation  they  have  a  dis 
cretionary  power,  restricted  by  the  duty  to  appropriate  to 
purposes  of  common  defence,  and  of  general,  not  local ; 
national,  not  state  benefit:  "  and  this  was  avowed  to  be 
the  governing  principle  through  the  residue  of  his  admin 
istration.  The  views  of  the  last  administration  are  of  such 
recent  date  as  to  render  a  particular  reference  to  them 
unnecessary.  It  is  well  known  that  the  appropriating 
power,  to  the  utmost  extent  which  had  been  claimed  for  it 
in  relation  to  internal  improvements,  was  fully  recognized 
and  exercised  by  it. 

This  brief  reference  to  known  facts  will  be  sufficient  to 
show  the  difficulty,  if  not  impracticability,  of  bringing 
back  the  operations  of  the  government  to  the  construction 
of  the  constitution  set  up  in  1798,  assuming  that  to  be  its 
true  reading,  in  relation  to  the  power  under  considera 
tion  ;  thus  giving  an  admonitory  proof  of  the  force  of  im- 


plication,  and  the  necessity  of  guarding  the  constitution 
with  sleepless  vigilance  against  the  authority  of  prece 
dents  which  have  not  the  sanction  of  its  most  plainly-de 
fined  powers.  For,  although  it  is  the  duty  of  all  to  look 
to  that  sacred  instrument,  instead  of  the  statute-book ;  to 
repudiate,  at  all  times,  encroachments  upon  its  spirit, 
which  are  too  apt  to  be  effected  by  the  conjuncture  of  pe 
culiar  and  facilitating  circumstances ;  it  is  not  less  true 
that  the  public  good  and  the  nature  of  our  political  insti 
tutions  require  that  individual  differences  should  yield  to  a 
well-settled  acquiescence  of  the  people  and  confederated 
authorities,  in  particular  constructions  of  the  constitution 
on  doubtful  points.  Not  to  concede  this  much  to  the  spirit 
of  our  institutions,  would  impair  their  stability,  and  defeat 
the  objects  of  the  constitution  itself. 

The  bill  before  me  does  not  call  for  a  more  definite 
opinion  upon  the  particular  circumstances  which  will  war 
rant  appropriations  of  money  by  Congress,  to  aid  works 
of  internal  improvement;  for,  although  the  extension  of 
the  power  to  apply  money  beyond  that  of  carrying  into 
effect  the  object  for  which  it  is  appropriated,  has,  as  we 
have  seen,  been  long  claimed  and  exercised  by  the  fed 
eral  government,  yet  such  grants  have  always  been  profess 
edly  under  ths  control  of  the  general  principle,  that  the 
works  which  might  be  thus  aided,  should  be  "  of  a  gen 
eral,  not  local ;  national,  not  state  character."  A  disre 
gard  of  this  distinction  would  of  necessity  lead  to  the 
subversion  of  the  federal  system.  That  even  this  is  an 
unsafe  one,  arbitrary  in  its  nature,  and  liable  consequently 
to  great  abuses,  is  too  obvious  to  require  the  confirmation 
of  experience.  It  is,  however,  sufficiently  definitive  and 
imperative  to  my  mind  to  forbid  my  approbation  of  any 
bill  having  the  character  of  the  one  under  consideration. 
I  have  given  to  its  provisions  all  the  reflection  demanded 
by  a  just  regard  for  the  interests  of  those  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  who  have  desired  its  passage,  and  by  the  respect 
which  is  due  to  a  coordinate  branch  of  the  government; 
but  I  am  not  able  to  view  it  in  any  other  light  than  as  a 
measure  of  purely  local  character  ;  or,  if  it  can  be  con 
sidered  national,  that  no  further  distinction  between  the 
appropriate  duties  of  the  general  and  state  governments 


284  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

need  be  attempted ;  for  there  can  be  no  local  interest  that 
may  not  with  equal  propriety  be  denominated  national. 
It  has  no  connection  with  any  established  system  of  im 
provements;  is  exclusively  within  the  limits  of  a  state, 
starting  at  a  point  on  the  Ohio  River,  and  running  out 
sixty  miles  to  an  interior  town ;  and  even  so  far  as  the 
state  is  interested,  conferring  partial,  instead  of  general 
advantages. 

Considering  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  pow 
er,  and  the  embarrassments  to  which,  from  the  very  nature 
of  the  thing,  its  exercise  must  necessarily  be  subjected, 
the  real  friends  of  internal  improvement  ought  not  to  be 
willing  to  confide  it  to  accident  and  chance.  What  is 
properly  national  in  its  character  or  otherwise,  is  an  in 
quiry  which  is  often  difficult  of  solution.  The  appropri 
ations  of  one  year,  for  an  object  which  is  considered  na 
tional,  may  be  rendered  nugatory  by  the  refusal  of  a  suc 
ceeding  Congress  to  continue  the  work,  on  the  ground  that 
it  is  local.  No  aid  can  be  derived  from  the  intervention 
of  corporations.  The  question  regards  the  character  of 
the  work,  not  that  of  those  by  whom  it  is  to  be  accom 
plished.  Notwithstanding  the  union  of  the  government 
with  the  corporation,  by  whose  immediate  agency  any 
work  of  internal  improvement  is  carried  on,  the  inquiry 
will  still  remain,  Is  it  national,  and  conducive  to  the  ben 
efit  of  the  whole,  or  local,  and  operating  only  to  the  ad 
vantage  of  a  portion  of  the  Union  ? 

But,  although  I  might  not  feel  it  to  be  my  official  duty 
to  interpose  the  executive  veto  to  the  passage  of  a  bill 
appropriating  money  for  the  construction  of  such  works 
as  are  authorized  by  the  states,  and  are  national  in  their 
character,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  expressing 
an  opinion  that  it  is  expedient,  at  this  time,  for  the  general 
government  to  embark  in  a  system  of  this  kind ;  and,  anx 
ious  that  my  constituents  should  be  possessed  of  my  views 
on  this  as  well  as  on  all  other  subjects  which  they  have 
committed  to  my  discretion,  I  shall  state  them  frankly  and 
briefly.  Besides  many  minor  considerations,  there  are  two 
prominent  views  of  the  subject  which  I  think  are  well  en 
titled  to  your  serious  attention,  and  will,  I  hope,  be  ma 
turely  weighed  by  the  people. 


285 

From  the  official  communication  submitted  to  yon,  it 
appears  that,  if  no  adverse  or  unforeseen  contingency 
happens  in  our  foreign  relations,  and  no  unusual  diver 
sion  be  made  of  the  funds  set  apart  for  the  payment  of 
the  national  debt,  we  may  look  with  confidence  to  its  en 
tire  extinguishment  in  the  short  period  of  four  years. 
The  extent  to  which  this  pleasing  anticipation  is  depend 
ent  upon  the  policy  which  may  be  pursued  in  relation  to 
measures  of  the  character  of  the  one  now  under  consid 
eration,  must  be  obvious  to  all,  and  equally  so  that  the 
events  of  the  present  session  are  well  calculated  to  awa 
ken  public  solicitude  upon  the  subject.  By  the  statement 
from  the  treasury  department,  and  those  from  the  clerks 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  herewith 
submitted,  it  appears  that  the  bills  which  have  passed 
into  laws,  and  those  which,  in  all  probability,  will  pass 
before  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  anticipate  appropri 
ations  which,  with  ordinary  expenditures  for  the  support 
of  government,  will  exceed  considerably  the  amount  in 
the  treasury  for  the  year  1830.  Thus,  whilst  we  are  di 
minishing  the  revenues  by  a  reduction  of  the  duties  on  tea, 
coffee,  and  cocoa,  the  appropriations  for  internal  improve 
ment  are  increasing  beyond  the  available  means  in  the 
treasury;  and  if  to  this  calculation  be  added  the  amounts 
contained  in  bills  which  are  pending  before  the  two 
houses,  it  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  ten  millions  of  dollars 
would  not  make  up  the  excess  over  the  treasury  receipts, 
unless  the  payment  of  the  national  debt  be  postponed, 
and  the  means  now  pledged  to  that  object  applied  to  those 
enumerated  in  these  bills.  Without  a  well-regulated 
system  of  internal  improvement,  this  exhausting  mode  of 
appropriation  is  not  likely  to  be  avoided,  and  the  plain 
consequence  must  be,  either  a  continuance  of  the  national 
debt,  or  a  resort  to  additional  taxes. 

Although  many  of  the  states,  with  a  laudable  zeal,  and 
under  the  influence  of  an  enlightened  policy,  are  succes 
sively  applying  their  separate  efforts  to  works  of  this  char 
acter,  the  desire  to  enlist  the  aid  of  the  general  govern 
ment  in  the  construction  of  such  as,  from  their  nature, 
outfit  to  devolve  upon  it,  and  to  which  the  means  of  the 
individual  states  are  inadequate,  is  both  rational  and  pa- 


286  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

triotic  ;  and  if  that  desire  is  not  gratified  now,  it  does  not 
follow  that  it  never  will  be.  The  general  intelligence 
and  public  spirit  of  the  American  people  furnish  a  sure 
guaranty,  that,  at  the  proper  time,  this  policy  will  be 
made  to  prevail  under  circumstances  more  auspicious  to 
its  successful  prosecution  than  those  which  now  exist. 
But,  great  as  this  object  undoubtedly  is,  it  is  not  the  only 
one  which  demands  the  fostering  care  of  the  government. 
The  preservation  and  success  of  the  republican  principle 
rests  with  us.  To  elevate  its  character,  and  extend  its 
influence,  rank  among  our  most  important  duties ;  and 
the  best  means  to  accomplish  this  desirable  end,  are  those 
which  will  rivet  the  attachment  of  our  citizens  to  the 
government  of  their  choice,  by  the  comparative  lightness 
of  their  public  burdens,  and  by  the  attraction  which  the 
superior  success  of  its  operations  will  present  to  the  ad 
miration  and  respect  of  the  world.  Through  the  favor  of 
an  overruling  and  indulgent  Providence,  our  country  is 
blessed  with  general  prosperity,  and  our  citizens  exempt 
ed  from  the  pressure  of  taxation  which  other  less  favored 
portions  of  the  human  family  are  obliged  to  bear;  yet  it 
is  true  that  many  of  the  taxes  collected  from  our  citizens, 
through  the  medium  of  imposts,  have,  for  a  considerable 
period,  been  onerous.  In  many  particulars,  these  taxes 
have  borne  severely  upon  the  laboring  and  less  prosper 
ous  classes  of  the  community,  being  imposed  on  the  neces 
saries  of  life,  and  this,  too,  in  cases  where  the  burden 
was  not  relieved  by  the  consciousness  that  it  would  ul 
timately  contribute  to  make  us  independent  of  foreign 
nations  for  articles  of  prime  necessity,  by  the  encourage 
ment  of  their  growth  and  manufacture  at  home.  They 
have  been  cheerfully  borne,  because  they  were  thought 
to  be  necessary  to  the  support  of  government,  and  the 
payment  of  the.  debts  unavoidably  incurred  in  the  acqui 
sition  and  maintenance  of  our  national  rights  and  liber 
ties.  But  have  we  a  right  to  calculate  on  the  same 
cheerful  acquiescence,  when  it  is  known  that  the  necessi 
ty  for  their  continuance  would  cease,  were  it  not  for  irreg 
ular,  improvident,  and  unequal  appropriations  of  the  pub 
lic  funds?  Will  not  the  people  demand,  as  they  have  a 
right  to  do,  such  a  prudent  system  of  expenditure  as  will 


JACKSON'S  MAYSVILLE  ROAD  VETO.  287 

pay  the  debts  of  the  Union,  and  authorize  the  reduction 
of  every  fix  to  as  low  a  point  as  the  wise  observance  of 
the  necessity  to  protect  that  portion  of  our  manufactures 
and  labor,  whose  prosperity  is  essential  to  our  national 
safety  and  independence,  will  allow  1  When  the  national 
debt  is  paid,  the  duties  upon  those  articles  which  we  do 
not  raise  may  be  repealed  with  safety,  and  still  leave,  I 
trust,  without  oppression  to  any  section  of  the  country,  an 
accumulating  surplus  fund,  which  may  be  beneficially  ap 
plied  to  some  well-digested  system  of  improvement. 

Under  this  view,  the  question,  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  federal  government  can,  or  ought  to  embark  in 
the  construction  of  roads  and  canals,  arid  the  extent  to 
which  it  may  impose  burdens  on  the  people  for  these  pur 
poses,  may  be  presented  on  its  own  merits,  free  of  all  dis 
guise,  and  of  every  embarrassment  except  such  as  may 
arise  from  the  constitution  itself.  Assuming  these  sugges 
tions  to  be  correct,  will  not  our  citizens  require  the  obser 
vance  of  a  course  by  which  they  can  be  effected?  Ought 
they  not  to  require  it  ?  With  the  best  disposition  to  aid, 
as  far  as  I  can  conscientiously,  in  the  furtherance  of  works 
of  internal  improvement,  my  opinion  is,  that  the  soundest 
views  of  national  policy,  at  this  time,  point  to  such  a 
course.  Besides  the  avoidance  of  an  evil  influence  upon 
the  local  concerns  of  the  country,  how  solid  is  the  advan 
tage  which  the  government  will  reap  from  it  in  the  eleva 
tion  of  its  character  !  How  gratifying  the  effect  of  pre 
senting  to  the  world  the  sublime  spectacle  of  a  republic, 
of  more  than  twelve  millions  of  happy  people,  in  the  fifty- 
fourth  year  of  her  existence  —  after  having  passed  through 
two  protracted  wars,  the  one  for  the  acquisition,  and  the 
other  for  the  maintenance  of  liberty — free  from  debt,  and 
with  all  her  immense  resources  unfettered  !  What  a  salu 
tary  influence  would  not  such  an  exhibition  exercise  upon 
the  cause  of  liberal  principles  and  free  government  through 
out  the  world  !  Would  we  not  ourselves  find  in  its  effect 
an  additional  guaranty  that  our  political  institutions  will 
be  transmitted  to  the  most  remote  posterity  without  decay  ? 
A  course  of  policy  destined  to  witness  events  like  these, 
cannot  be  benefited  by  a  legislation  which  tolerates  a 
scramble  for  appropriations  that  have  no  relation  to  any 


288  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

general  system  of  improvement,  and  whose  good  effects 
must  of  necessity  be  very  limited.  In  the  best  view  of 
these  appropriations,  the  abuses  to  which  they  lead  far 
exceed  the  good  which  they  are  capable  of  promoting. 
They  may  be  resorted  to  as  artful  expedients  to  shift  upon 
the  government  the  losses  of  unsuccessful  private  specula 
tion,  and  thus,  by  ministering  to  personal  ambition  and 
self-aggrandizement,  tend  to  sap  the  foundations  of  public 
virtue,  and  taint  the  administration  of  the  government  with 
a  demoralizing  influence. 

In  the  other  view  of  the  subject,  and  the  only  remaining 
one  which  it  is  my  intention  to  present  at  this  time,  is  in 
volved  the  expediency  of  embarking  in  a  system  of  inter 
nal  improvement  without  a  previous  amendment  of  the  con 
stitution,  explaining  and  denning  the  precise  pOA-ers  of  the 
federal  government  over  it.  Assuming  the  right  to  appro 
priate  money  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  national  works 
to  be  warranted  by  the  contemporaneous  and  continued 
exposition  of  the  constitution,  its  insufficiency  for  the  suc 
cessful  prosecution  of  them  must  be  admitted  by  all  can 
did  minds.  If  we  look  to  usage  to  define  the  extent  of  the 
right,  that  will  be  found  so  variant,  and  embracing  so  much 
that  has  been  overruled,  as  to  involve  the  whole  subject  in 
great  uncertainty,  and  to  render  the  execution  of  our  re 
spective  duties  in  relation  to  it  replete  with  difficulty  and 
embarrassment.  It  is  in  regard  to  such  works,  and  the  ac 
quisition  of  additional  territory,  that  the  practice  obtained 
its  first  footing.  In  most,  if  not  all  other  disputed  ques 
tions  of  appropriation,  the  construction  of  the  constitution 
may  be  regarded  as  unsettled,  if  the  right  to  apply  money, 
in  the  enumerated  cases,  is  placed  on  the  ground  of  usage. 

This  subject  has  been  of  much,  and,  I  may  add,  painful 
reflection  to  me.  It  has  bearings  that  are  well  calculated 
to  exert  a  powerful  influence  upon  our  hitherto  prosperous 
system  of  government,  and  which,  on  some  accounts,  may 
even  excite  despondency  in  the  breast  of  an  American  citi 
zen.  I  will  not  detain  you  with  professions  of  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  internal  improvements.  If  to  be  their  friend  is  a 
virtue  which  deserves  commendation,  our  country  is  blessed 
with  an  abundance  of  it;  for  I  do  not  suppose  there  is  an 
intelligent  citizen  who  does  not  wish  to  see  them  flourish. 


289 

But  though  all  are  their  friends,  but  few,  I  trust,  are  un 
mindful  of  the  means  by  which  they  should  be  promoted ; 
none  certainly  are  so  degenerate  as  to  desire  their  success 
at  the  cost  of  that  sacred  instrument,  with  the  preservation 
of  which  is  iridissolubly  bound  our  country's  hopes.  If 
different  impressions  are  entertained  in  any  quarter ;  if  it 
is  expected  that  the  people  of  this  country,  reckless  of  their 
constitutional  obligation,  will  prefer  their  local  interest  to 
the  principles  of  the  Union,  such  expectations  will  in  the 
end  be  disappointed ;  or,  if  it  be  not  so,  then  indeed  has 
the  world  but  little  to  hope  from  the  example  of  a  free  gov 
ernment.  When  an  honest  observance  of  constitutional 
compacts  cannot  be  obtained  from  communities  like  ours, 
it  need  not  be  anticipated  elsewhere;  and  the  cause  in 
which  there  has  been  so  much  martyrdom,  and  from  which 
so  much  was  expected  by  the  friends  of  liberty,  may  be 
abandoned,  and  the  degrading  truth,  that  man  is  unfit  for 
self-government,  admitted.  And  this  will  be  the  case,  if 
expediency  be  made  the  rule  of  construction  in  interpreting 
the  constitution.  Power,  in  no  government,  could  desire 
a  better  shield  for  the  insidious  advances  with  which  it  is 
ever  ready  to  break  up  the  checks  that  are  designed  to  re 
strain  its  action. 

But  I  do  not  entertain  such  gloomy  apprehensions.  If 
it  be  the  wish  of  the  people  that  the  construction  of  roads 
and  canals  should  be  conducted  by  the  federal  government, 
it  is  not  only  highly  expedient,  but  indispensably  necessary, 
that  a  previous  amendment  of  the  constitution,  delegating 
the  necessary  power,  and  defining  and  restricting  its  ex 
ercise  with  reference  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  states, 
should  be  made.  Without  it,  nothing  extensively  useful 
can  be  effected.  The  right  to  exercise  as  much  jurisdic 
tion  as  is  necessary  to  preserve  the  works,  and  to  raise 
funds  by  the  collection  of  tolls  to  keep  them  in  repair, 
cannot  be  dispensed  with.  The  Cumberland  road  should 
be  an  instructive  admonition  of  the  consequences  of  acting 
without  this  right.  Year  after  year,  contests  are  witnessed, 
growing  out  of  efforts  to  obtain  the  necessary  appro 
priations  for  completing  and  repairing  this  useful  work. 
Whilst  one  Congress  may  claim  and  exercise  the  power,  a 
succeeding  one  may  deny  it ;  and  this  fluctuation  of  opinion. 
25 


\  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

must  be  Unavoidably  fatal  to  any  scheme  which,  from  its 
extent,  would  promote  the  interests  and  elevate  the  char 
acter  of  the  country.  The  experience  of  the  past  has 
shown  that  the  opinion  of  Congress  is  subject  to  such 
fluctuations. 

If  it  be  the  desire, .of  the  people  that  the  agency  of  the 
federal  government  should  be  confined  to  the  appropriation 
of  money  in  aid  of  such  undertakings,  in  virtue  of  state 
authorities,  then  the  occasion,  the  manner,  and  the  extent 
6f  the  appropriations,  should  be  made  the  subject  of  con 
stitutional  regulation.  This  is  the  more  necessary,  in  order 
that  they  may  be  equitable  among  the  several  states  ;  pro 
mote  harmony  between  different  sections  of  the  Union  and 
their  representatives ;  preserve  other  parts  of  the  constitu 
tion  from  being  undermined  by  the  exercise  of  doubtful 
powers,  or  the  too  great  extension  of  those  which  are  not 
so ;  and  protect  the  whole  subject  against  the  deleterious 
influence  of  combinations  to  carry  by  concert,  measures 
which,  considered  by  themselves,  might  meet  but  little 
countenance.  That  a  constitutional  adjustment  of  this 
power  upon  equitable  principles  is  in  the  highest  degree 
desirable,  can  scarcely  be  doubted ;  nor  can  it  fail  to  be 
promoted  by  every  sincere  friend  to  the  success  of  our 
political  institutions.  In  no  government  are  appeals  to  the 
source  of  power,  in  cases  of  real  doubt,  more  suitable  than 
in  ours.  No  good  motive  can  be  assigned  for  the  exercise 
of  power  by  the  constituted  authorities,  while  those  for 
whose  benefit  it  is  to  be  exercised  have  not  conferred  it, 
and  may  not  be  willing  to  confer  it.  It  would  seem  to  me 
that  an  honest  application  of  the  conceded  powers  of  the 
general  government  to  the  advancement  of  the  common 
weal,  presents  a  sufficient  scope  to  satisfy  a  reasonable  am 
bition.  The  difficulty  and  supposed  impracticability  of 
obtaining  an  amendment  of  the  constitution  in  this  respect, 
is,  I  firmly  believe,  in  a  great  degree  unfounded.  The 
time  has  never  yet  been  when  the  patriotism  and  intelli 
gence  of  the  American  people  were  not  fully  equal  to  the 
greatest  exigency ;  and  it  never  will,  when  the  subject, 
calling  forth  their  interposition  is  plainly  presented  to  them. 
To  do  so  with  the  questions  involved  in  this  bill,  and  to 
urge  them  to  an  early,  zealous,  and  full  consideration  of 


291 

their  deep  importance,  is  in  my  estimation  among  the 
highest  of  our  duties. 

A  supposed  connection  between  appropriations  for  in 
ternal  improvement  and  the  system  of  protecting  duties, 
growing  out  of  the  anxieties  of  those  more  immediately 
interested  in  their  success,  has  given  rise  to  suggestions 
which  it  is  proper  I  should  notice  on  this  occasion.  My 
opinions  on  these  subjects  have  never  been  concealed  from 
those  who  had  a  right  to  know  them.  Those  which  I 
have  entertained  on  the  latter  have  frequently  placed  me 
in  opposition  to  individuals,  as  well  as  communities, 
whose  claims  upon  my  friendship  and  gratitude  are  of  the 
strongest  character;  but  I  trust  there  has  been  nothing  in 
my  public  life  which  has  exposed  me  to  the  suspicion  of 
being  thought  capable  of  sacrificing  ray  views  of  duty  to 
private  consideration??,  however  strong  they  may  have 
been,  or  deep  tho  regrets  which  they  are  :capable  of  ex 
citing. 

As  long  as  the  encouragement  of  domestic  manufactures 
is  directed  to  national  ends,  it  shall  -receive  from  me  a 
temperate  but  steady  support.  There  is  no  necessary 
connection  between  it  and  the  system  of  appropriations. 
On  the  contrary,  it  appears  to  me  that  the  supposition  of 
their  dependence  upon  each  other  is  calculated  to  excite 
the  prejudices  of  the  public  against  both.  The  former 
is  sustained  on  the  grounds  of  its  consistency  with  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  the  constitution,  of  its  origin  being 
traced  to  the  assent  of  all  the  parties  to  the  original  com 
pact,  and  of  its  having  the  support  and  approbation  of  a 
majority  of  the  people  ;  on  which  account  it  is  at  least 
entitled  to  a  fair  experiment.  The  suggestions  to  which 
I  have  alluded,  refer  to  a  forced  continuance  of  the  na 
tional  debt,  by  means  of  large  appropriations,  as  a  sub 
stitute  for  the  security  which  the  system  derives  from  the 
principles  on  which  it  has  hitherto  been  sustained.  Such 
a  course  would  certainly  indicate  either  an  unreasonable 
distrust  of  the  people,  or  a  consciousness  that  the  system 
does  not  possess  sufficient  soundness  for  its  support,  if  left 
to  their  voluntary  choice  and  its  own  merits.  Those  who 
suppose  that  any  policy  thus  founded  can  be  long  upheld 
in  this  country,  have  looked  upon  its  history  with  eyes 


292  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

very  different  from  mine.  This  policy,  like  every  other, 
must  abide  the  will  of  the  people,  who  will  not  be  likely 
to  allow  any  device,  however  specious,  to  conceal  its 
character  and  tendency. 

In  presenting  these  opinions,  I  have  spoken  with  the 
freedom  and  candor  which  I  thought  the  occasion  for 
their  expression  called  for ;  and  now  respectfully  return 
the  bill  which  has  been  under  consideration,  for  your 
further  deliberation  and  judgment. 


JACKSOFS  BANK  VETO. 

JULY  10,  1832. 

To  the  Senate  : 

THE  bill  to  "  modify  and  continue "  the  act  entitled 
"  An  act  to  incorporate  the  subscribers  to  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,"  was  presented  to  me  on  the  4th  of 
July  instant.  Having  considered  it  with  that  solemn  re 
gard  to  the  principles  of  the  constitution  which  the  day 
was  calculated  to  inspire,  and  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  ought  not  to  become  a  law,  I  herewith  return  it  to  the 
Senate,  in  which  it  originated,  with  my  objections. . 

A  Bank  of  the  United  States  is  in  many  respects  con 
venient  for  the  government  and  useful  to  the  people.  En 
tertaining  this  opinion,  and  deeply  impressed  with  the 
belief  that  some  of  the  powers  and  privileges  possessed  by 
the  existing  bank  are  unauthorized  by  the  constitution, 
subversive  of  the  rights  of  the  states,  and  dangerous  to 
the  liberties  of  the  people,  I  felt  it  my  duty,  at  an  early 
period  of  my  administration,  to  call  the  attention  of  Con 
gress  to  the  practicability  of  organizing  an  institution 
combining  all  its  advantages,  and  obviating  these  ob 
jections.  I  sincerely  regret,  that  in  the  act  before  me,  I 
can  perceive  none  of  those  modifications  of  the  bank 
charter  which  are  necessary,  in  my  opinion,  to  make  it 
compatible  with  justice,  with  sound  policy,  or  with  the 
constitution  of  our  country. 

The  present  corporate  body,  denominated  the  President, 


JACKSON'S  BANK  VETO.  293 

Directors,  and  Company  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
will  have  existed,  at  the  time  this  act  is  intended  to  take 
effect,  twenty  years.  It  enjoys- an  exclusive  privilege  of 
banking,  under  the  authority  of  the  general  government, 
a  monopoly  of  its  favor  and  support,  and,  as  a  necessary 
consequence,  almost  a  monopoly  of  the  foreign  and  do 
mestic  exchange.  The  powers,  privileges,  and  favors  be 
stowed  upon  it,  in  the  original  charter,  by  increasing  the 
value  of  the  stock  far  above  its  par  value,  operated  as  a 
gratuity  of  many  millions  to  the  stockholders. 

An  apology  may  be  found  for  the  failure  to  guard 
against  this  result,  in  the  consideration  that  the  effect  of 
the  original  act  of  incorporation  could  not  be  certainly 
foreseen  at  the  time  of  its  passage.  The  act  before  me 
proposes  another  gratuity  to  the  holders  of  the  same  stock, 
and,  in  many  cases,  to  the  same  men,  of  at  least  seven 
millions  more.  This  donation  finds  no  apology  in  any 
uncertainty  as  to  the  effect  of  the  act.  On  all  hands  it  is 
conceded  that  its  passage  will  increase,  at  least,  twenty  or 
thirty  per  cent,  more,  the  market  price  of  the  stock,  sub 
ject  to  the  payment  of  the  annuity  of  $200,000  per  year 
secured  by  the  act ;  thus  adding,  in  a  moment,  one  fourth 
to  its  par  value.  It  is  not  our  own  citizens  only  who  are 
to  receive  the  bounty  of  our  government.  More  than 
eight  millions  of  the  stock  of  this  bank  are  held  by  for 
eigners.  By  this  act,  the  American  republic  proposes  vir 
tually  to  make  them  a  present  of  some  millions  of  dollars. 
For  these  gratuities  to  foreigners,  and  to  some  of  our  own 
opulent  citizens,  the  act  secures  no  equivalent  whatever. 
They  are  the  certain  gains  of  the  present  stockholders 
under  the  operation  of  this  act,  after  making  full  allowance 
for  the  payment  of  the  bonus. 

Every  monopoly,  and  all  exclusive  privileges,  are  granted 
at  the  expense  of  the  public,  which  ought  to  receive  a  fair 
equivalent.  The  many  millions  which  this  act  proposes 
to  bestow  on  the  stockholders  of  the  existing  bank,  must 
come  directly  or  indirectly  out  of  the  earnings  of  the 
American  people.  It  is  due  to  them,  therefore,  if  their 
government  sell  monopolies  and  exclusive  privileges,  that 
they  should  at  least  exact  for  them  as  much  as  they  are 
worth  in  open  market.  The  value  of  the  monopoly  in 
25* 


294  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

this  case  may  be  correctly  ascertained.  The  twenty-eight 
millions  of  stock  would  probably  be  at  an  advance  of  fifty 
per  cent.,  and  command  in  the  market  at  least  forty-two 
millions  of  dollars,  subject  to  the  payment  of  the  present 
bonus.  The  present  value  of  the  monopoly,  therefore,  is 
seventeen  millions  of  dollars,  which  this  act  proposes  to 
sell  for  three  millions,  payable  in  fifteen  annual  instal 
ments  of  $200,000  each. 

It  is  not  conceivable  how  the  present  stockholders  can 
have  any  claim  to  the  special  favor  of  the  government 
The  present  corporation  has  enjoyed  its  monopoly  during 
the  period  stipulated  in  the  original  contract.  If  we  must 
have  such  a  corporation,  why  should  not  the  government 
sell  out  the  whole  stock,  and  thus  secure  to  the  people  the 
full  market  value  of  the  privileges  granted  1  Why  should 
not  Congress  create  and  sell  twenty-eight  millions  of  stock, 
incorporating  the  purchasers  with  all  the  powers  and  privi 
leges  secured  in  this  act,  and  put  the  premium  upon  the 
sales  into  the  treasury  1 

But  this  act  does  not  permit  competition  in  the  purchase 
of  this  monopoly.  It  seems  to  me  predicated  on  the  er 
roneous  idea  that  the  present  stockholders  have  a  prescrip 
tive  right  not  only  to  the  favor,  but  to  the  bounty  of  gov 
ernment.  It  appears  that  more  than  a  fourth  part  of  the 
stock  is  held  by  foreigners,  and  the  residue  is  held  by  a 
few  hundred  of  our  own  citizens,  chiefly  of  the  richest 
class.  For  their  benefit  does  this  act  exclude  the  whole 
American  people  from  competition  in  the  purchase  of  this 
monopoly,  and  dispose  of  it  for  many  millions  less  than  it 
is  worth.  This  seems  the  less  excusable,  because  some  of 
our  citizens,  not  now  stockholders,  petitioned  that  the  door 
of  competition  might  be  opened,  and  offered  to  take  a  char 
ter  on  terms  much  more  favorable  to  the  government  and 
country. 

But  this  proposition,  although  made  by  men  whose  ag 
gregate  wealth  is  believed  to  be  equal  to  all  the  private 
stock  in  the  existing  bank,  has  been  set  aside,  arid  the 
bounty  of  our  government  is  proposed  to  be  again  bestowed 
on  the  few  who  have  been  fortunate  enough  to  secure 
the  stock,  and  at  this  moment  wield  the  power  of  the  ex 
isting  institution.  I  cannot  perceive  the  justice  or  policy 


295 

of  this  course.  If  our  government  must  sell  monopolies, 
it  would  seem  to  be  its  duty  to  take  nothing  less  than  their 
full  value;  and  if  gratuities  must  be  made  once  in  fifteen 
or  twenty  years,  let  them  not  be  bestowed  on  the  subjects 
of  a  foreign  government,  nor  upon  a  designated  and  favored 
class  of  men  in  our  own  country.  It  is  but  justice  and 
good  policy,  as  far  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit,  to 
confine  our  favors  to  our  own  fellow-citizens,  and  let  each 
in  his  turn  enjoy  an  opportunity  to  profit  by  our  bounty. 
In  the  bearings  of  the  act  before  me,  upon  these  points,  1 
find  ample  reasons  why  it  should  not  become  a  law. 

It  has  been  urged  as  an  argument  in  favor  of  recharter- 
ing  the  present  bank,  that  the  calling  in  its  loans  will  pro 
duce  great  embarrassment  and  distress.  The  time  allowed 
to  close  its  concerns  is  ample;  and  if  it  has  been  well 
managed,  its  pressure  will  be  light,  and  heavy  only  in  case 
its  management  has  been  bad.  If,  therefore,  it  shall  pro 
duce  distress,  the  fault  will  be  its  own ;  and  it  would 
furnish  a  reason  against  renewing  a  power  which  has  been 
so  obviously  abused.  But  will  there  ever  be  a  time  when 
this  reason  will  be  less  powerful  1  To  acknowledge  its 
force,  is  to  admit  that  the  bank  ought  to  be  perpetual ; 
and,  as  a  consequence,  the  present  stockholders,  and  those 
inheriting  their  rights  as  successors,  be  established  a  priv 
ileged  order,  clothed  both  with  great  political  power,  and 
enjoying  immense  pecuniary  advantages  from  their  con 
nection  with  the  government. 

The  modifications  of  the  existing  charter,  proposed  by 
this  act,  are  not  such,  in  my  view,  as  make  it  consistent 
with  the  rights  of  the  states  or  the  liberties  of  the  people. 
The  qualification  of  the  right  of  the  bank  to  hold  real 
estate,  the  limitation  of  its  power  to  establish  branches, 
and  the  power  reserved  to  Congress  to  forbid  the  circula 
tion  of  small  notes,  are  restrictions  comparatively  of  little 
value  or  importance.  All  the  objectionable  principles  of 
the  existing  corporation,  and  most  of  its  odious  features, 
are  retained  without  alleviation. 

The  fourth  section  provides  "  that  the  notes  or  bills  of 
the  said  corporation,  although  the  same  be  on  the  faces 
thereof,  respectively,  made  payable  at  one  place  only,  shall, 
nevertheless,  be  received  by  the  said  corporation  at  the 


296  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

bank,  or  at  any  of  the  offices  of  discount  and  deposit  there 
of,  if  tendered  in  liquidation  or  payment  of  any  balance  or 
balances  due  to  said  corporation,  or  to  such  office  of  dis 
count  and  deposit,  from  any  other  incorporated  bank." 
This  provision  secures  to  the  state  banks  a  legal  privilege 
in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  which  is  withheld  from 
all  private  citizens.  If  a  state  bank  in  Philadelphia  owe 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  have  notes  issued  by 
the  St.  Louis  branch,  it  can  pay  the  debt  with  those  notes  ; 
but  if  a  merchant,  mechanic,  or  other  private  citizen,  be  in 
like  circumstances,  he  cannot,  by  law,  pay  his  debts  with 
those  notes;  but  must  sell  them  at  a  discount,  or  send 
them  to  St.  Louis  to  be  cashed.  This  boon  conceded  to 
the  state  banks,  though  not  unjust  in  itself,  is  most  odious ; 
because  it  does  not  measure  out  equal  justice  to  the  high 
and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the  poor.  To  the. extent  of  its 
practical  effect,  it  is  a  bond  of  union,  among  the  banking 
establishments  of  the  nation,  erecting  them  into  an  interest 
separate  from  that  of  the  people ;  and  its  necessary  ten 
dency  is  to  unite  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  the 
state  banks  in  any  measure  which  may  be  thought  con 
ducive  to  their  common  interest. 

The  ninth  section  of  the  act  recognizes  principles  of 
worse  tendency  than  any  provision  of  the  present  charter. 

It  enacts  that  "  the  cashier  of  the  bank  shall  annually 
report  to  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  the  names  of  all 
the  stockholders  who  are  not  resident  citizens  of  the 
United  States ;  and,  on  the  application  of  the  treasurer  of 
any  state,  shall  make  out  and  transmit  to  such  treasurer 
a  list  of  stockholders  residing  in,  or  citizens  of  such  state, 
with  the  amount  of  stock  owned  by  each."  Although  this 
provision,  taken  in  connection  with  a  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  surrenders,  by  its  silence,  the  right  of  the 
states  to  tax  the  banking  institutions  created  by  this  cor 
poration,  under  the  name  of  branches,  throughout  the 
Union,  it  is  evidently  intended  to  be  construed  as  a  con 
cession  of  their  right  to  tax  that  portion  of  the  stock  which 
may  be  held  by  their  own  citizens  and  residents.  In  this 
light,  if  the  act  becomes  a  law,  it  will  be  understood  by 
the  states,  who  will  probably  proceed  to  levy  a  tax  equal  to 
that  paid  upon  the  stock  of  the  banks  incorporated  by 


297 

themselves.  In  some  states,  that  tax  is  now  one  per  cent., 
either  on  the  capital  or  on  the  shares,  and  that  may  be  as 
sumed  as  the  amount  which  all  citizens  or  resident  stock 
holders  would  be  taxed  under  the  operation  of  this  act. 
As  it  is  only  the  stock  held  in  the  states,  and  not  that 
employed  between  them,  which  would  be  subject  to  tax 
ation,  and  as  the  names  of  foreign  stockholders  are  not  to 
be  reported  to  the  treasurers  of  the  states,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  stock  held  by  them  will  be  exempt  from  this  bur 
den.  Their  annual  profits  will,  therefore,  be  one  per  cent, 
more  than  the  citizen  stockholders ;  and,  as  the  annual 
dividends  of  the  bank  may  be  safely  estimated  at  seven 
per  cent,  the  stock  will  be  worth  ten  or  fifteen  per  cent, 
more  to  foreigners  than  to  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
To  appreciate  the  effect  which  this  state  of  things  will 
produce,  we  must  take  a  brief  review  of  the  operations 
and  present  condition  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
By  documents  submitted  to  Congress  at  the  present  ses 
sion,  it  appears  that  on  the  1st  of  January,  1832,  of  the 
twenty-eight  millions  of  private  stock  in  the  corporation, 
$8,405,500  were  held  by  foreigners,  mostly  of  Great 
Britain.  The  amount  of  stock  held  in  the  nine  Western 
and  South-Western  States,  is  $140,200,  and  in  the  four 
Southern  States,  is  $5,623,100,  and  in  the  Middle  and 
Eastern  States,  is  about  $13,522,000.  The  profits  of  the 
bank  in  1831,  as  shown  in  a  statement  to  Congress,  were 
about  $3,455,598 ;  of  this,  there  accrued  in  the  nine  West 
ern  States,  about  $1,640,048  ;  in  the  four  Southern  States, 
about  $352,507;  and  in  the  Middle  and  Eastern  States, 
about  $1,463,041.  As  little  stock  is  held  in  the  west,  it 
is  obvious  that  the  debt  of  the  people  in  that  section,  to 
the  bank,  is  principally  a  debt  to  the  eastern  and  foreign 
stockholders ;  that  the  interest  they  pay  upon  it,  is  carried 
into  the  Eastern  States,  and  into  Europe ;  and  that  it  is  a 
burden  upon  their  industry,  and  a  drain  of  their  currency, 
which  no  country  can  bear  without  inconvenience  and  oc 
casional  distress.  To  meet  this  burden,  and  equalize  the 
exchange  operations  of  the  bank,  the  amount  of  specie 
drawn  from  those  states,  through  its  branches,  within  the 
last  two  years,  as  shown  by  its  official  reports,  was  about 
$6,000,000.  More  than  half  a  million  of  this  amount  does 


298  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

not  stop  in  the  Eastern  States,  but  passes  on  to  Europe,  to 
pay  the  dividends.'  of  the  foreign  stockholders.  In  the 
principle  of  taxation  recognized  by  this  act,  the  Western 
States  find  no  adequate  compensation,  for  this  perpetual 
burden  on  their  industry,  and  drain  of  their  currency. 
The  branch  bank 'at '-Mobile  made,  last  year,  $95,140;  yet, 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  state  of  Alabama  can 
raise  no  revenue  from  these  profitable  operations,  because 
not  a  share  of  the  stock  is  held  by  any  of  her  citizens. 
Mississippi  arid  Missouri  are  in  the  same  erudition,  in  re 
lation  to  the  branches  at  Natchez  and  St.  Louis;  and 
such,  in  a  greater!^  less  degree,  is  the  condition  of  every 
Western  state.  TPlfe  tendency  of  the  plan  of  taxation  which 
this  act  proposes,  will  be  to  place  the  whole  United  States 
'  ^:same  relation  to  foreign  countries  which  the  Western 
now  bear  to  the  Eastern.  When,  by  a  tax  on  resi- 

Mit  stockholders,  the  stock  of  this  bank  is  made  worth  ten 

vlifteen  per  cent,  more  to  foreigners  than  to  residents, 

>st  of  it  will  inevitably  leave  the  country. 

Thus  will  this  provision,  in* its  practical  effect,  deprive 
the  Eastern  as  well  as  the  Southern  and  Western  States,  of 
the  means  of  raising  a  revenue  from  the  extension  of 
business  and  great  profits  of  the  institution.  It  will  make 
the  American  people  debtors  to  aliens,  in  nearly  the  whole 
amount  due  to  this  bank,  and  send  across  the  Atlantic 
from  two  to  five  millions  of  specie  every  year  to  pay 
the  bank  dividends. 

In  another  of  its  bearings  this  provision  is  fraught  with 
danger.  Of  the  twenty-five  directors  of  this  bank,  five 
are  chosen  by  the  government,  and  twenty  by  the  citizen 
stockholders.  From  all  voice  in  these  elections,  the 
foreign  stockholders  are  excluded  by  the  charter.  In  pro 
portion,  therefore,  as  the  stock  is  transferred  to  foreign 
holders,  the  extent  of  suffrage  in  the  choice  of  directors 
is  curtailed. 

Already  is  almost  a  third  of  the  stock  in  foreign  hands, 
and  not  represented  in  elections.  It  is  constantly  passing 
out  of  the  country ;  and  this  act  will  accelerate  its  de 
parture.  The  entire  control  of  the  institution  would 
necessarily  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  few  citizen  stock 
holders;  and  the  ease  with  which  the  object  would  be 


299 

accomplished,  would  be  a  temptation  to  designing  men 
to  secure  that  control  in  their  own  hands,  by  monopoliz 
ing  the  remaining  stock.  There  is  danger  that  a  presi 
dent  and  directors  would  then  be  able  to  elect  themselves 
from  year  to  year,  and,  without  responsibility  or  control, 
manage  the  whole  concerns  of  the  bank  during  the  exist 
ence  of  its  charter.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  that  great  evils 
to  our  country  and  its  institutions  might  flow  from  such 
a  concentration  of  power  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men,  irre 
sponsible  to  the  people. 

Is  there  no  danger  to  our  liberty  and  independence  in 
a  bank,  that  in  its  nature  has  so  little  to  bind  it  to  our 
country?  The  president  of  the  bank  has  told  us  that 
most  of  the  state  banks  exist  by  its  forbearance.  Should 
its  influence  become  concentred,  as  it  may  under  the 
operation  of  such  an  act  as  this,  in  the  hands  of  a  self- 
elected  directory,  whose  interests  are  identified  with  those 
of  the  foreign  stockholder,  will  there  not  be  cause  to  trem 
ble  for  the  purity  of  our  elections  in  peace,  and  for  the 
independence  of  our  country  in  war  1  Their  power  would 
be  great  whenever  they  might  choose  to  exert  it ;  but  if 
this  monopoly  were  regularly  renewed  every  fifteen  or 
twenty  years,  on  terms  proposed  by  themselves,  they 
might  seldom  in  peace  put  forth  their  strength  to  influence 
elections  or  control  the  affairs  of  the  nation.  But  if  any 
private  citizen  or  public  functionary  should  interpose  to 
curtail  its  powers,  or  prevent  a  renewal  of  its  privileges, 
it  cannot  be  doubted  that  he  would  be  made  to  feel  .its 
influence. 

Should  the  stock  of  the  bank  principally  pass  into  the 
hands  of  the  subjects  of  a  foreign  country,  and  we  should 
unfortunately  become  involved  in  a  war  with  that  country, 
what  would  be  our  condition  ?  Of  the  course  which 
would  be  pursued  by  a  bank  almost  wholly  owned  by  the 
subjects  of  a  foreign  power,  and  managed  by  those  whose 
interests,  if  not  affections,  would  run  in  the  same  direction, 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  All  its  operations  within,  would 
be  in  aid  of  the  hostile  fleets  and  armies  without.  Con 
trolling  our  currency,  receiving  our  public  moneys,  and 
holding  thousands  of  our  citizens  in  dependence,  it  would 


300  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

be  more  formidable  and  dangerous  than  the  naval  and 
military  power  of  the  enemy. 

If  we  must  have  a  bank  with  private  stockholders, 
every  consideration  of  sound  policy,  and  every  impulse 
of  American  feeling,  admonishes  that  it  should  be  purely 
American.  Its  stockholders  should  be  composed  exclu 
sively  of  our  own  citizens,  who  at  least  ought  to  be  friendly 
to  our  government,  and  willing  to  support  it  in  times  of 
difficulty  and  danger.'  So  abundant  is  domestic  capital, 
that  competition  in  subscribing  for  the  stock  of  local  banks 
has  recently  led  almost  to  riots.  To  a  bank  exclusively 
of  American  stockholders,  possessing  the  powers  and  privi 
leges  granted  by  this  act,  subscriptions  for  two  hundred 
millions  of  dollars  could  be  readily  obtained.  Instead  of 
sending  abroad  the  stock  of  the  bank  in  which  the  gov 
ernment  must  deposit  its  funds,  and  on  which  it  must  rely 
to  sustain  its  credit  in  times  of  emergency,  it  would  rather 
seem  to  be  expedient  to  prohibit  its  sale  to  aliens  under 
penalty  of  absolute  forfeiture. 

It  is  maintained  by  the  advocates  of  the  bank,  that  its 
constitutionality,  in  all  its  features,  ought  to  be  considered 
as  settled  by  precedent,  and  by  the  decision  of  the  Su 
preme  Court.  To  this  conclusion  I  cannot  assent.  Mere 
precedent  is  a  dangerous  source  of  authority,  and  should 
not  be  regarded  as  deciding  questions  of  constitutional 
power,  except  where  the  acquiescence  of  the  people  and 
the  states  can  be  considered  as  well  settled.  So  far  from 
this  being  the  case  on  this  subject,  an  argument  against 
the  bank  might  be  based  on  precedent.  One  Congress,  in 
1791,  decided  in  favor  of  a  bank  ;  another,  in  1811,  decided 
against  it.  One  Congress,  in  1815,  decided  against  a  bank  ; 
another,  in  1816,  decided  in  its  favor.  Prior  to  the  present 
Congress,  therefore,  the  precedents  drawn  from  that  source 
were  equal.  If  we  resort  to  the  states,  the  expressions  of 
legislative,  judicial,  and  executive  opinions  against  the 
bank  have  been  probably  to  those  in  its  favor  as  four  to 
one.  There  is  nothing  in  precedent,  therefore,  which,  if 
its  authority  were  admitted,  ought  to  weigh  in  favor  of 
the  act  before  me. 

If  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  covered  the  whole 


301 

ground  of  this  act,  it  ought  not  to  control  the  coordinate 
authorities  of  this  government.  The  Congress,  the  ex 
ecutive,  and  the  court,  must  each  for  itself  be  guided  by 
its  own  opinion  of  the  constitution.  Each  public  officer 
who  takes  an  oath  to  support  the  constitution,  swears 
that  he  will  support  it  as  he  understands  it,  and  riot  as  it 
is  understood  by  others.  It  is  as  much  the  duty  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  of  the  Senate,  and  of  the  Pres 
ident,  to  decide  upon  the  constitutionality  of  any  bill  or 
resolution  which  may  be  presented  to  them  for  passage 
or  approval  as  it  is  of  the  supreme  judges  when  it  may 
be  brought  before  them  for  judicial  decision.  The  opinion 
of  the  judges  has  no  more  authority  over  Congress  than 
the  opinion  of  Congress  has  over  the  judges ;  and  on  that 
point  the  President  is  independent  of  both.  The  authority 
of  the  Supreme  Court  must  not,  therefore,  be  permitted 
to  control  the  Congress  or  the  executive,  when  acting  in 
their  legislative  capacities,  but  to  have  only  such  influence 
as  the  force  of  their  reasoning  may  deserve. 

But  in  the  case  relied  upon,  the  Supreme  Court  have 
not  decided  that  all  the  features  of  this  corporation  are 
compatible  with  the  constitution.  It  is  true  that  the  court 
have  said  that  the  law  incorporating  the  bank  is  a  consti* 
tutional  exercise  of  power  by  Congress.  But  taking  into 
view  the  whole  opinion  of  the  court,  and  the  reasoning 
by  which  they  have  come  to  that  conclusion,  I  understand 
them  to  have  decided  that,  inasmuch  as  a  bank  is  an  ap 
propriate  means  for  carrying  into  effect  the  enumerated 
powers  of  the  general  government,  therefore  the  law  in 
corporating  it,  is  in  accordance  with  that  provision  of  the 
constitution  which  declares  that  Congress  shall  have  power 
"  to  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper 
for  carrying  those  powers  into  execution."  Having  satis 
fied  themselves  that  the  word  "  necessary ,"  in  the  consti 
tution,  means  "  needful"  "  requisite,  "  essential"  "  eonrlu- 
civfi  to,"  and  that  "  a  bank  "  is  a  convenient,  a  useful, 
and  essential  instrument  in  the  prosecution  of  the  gov 
ernment's  "  fiscal  operations,"  they  conclude  that  "  to  use 
one  must  be  in  the  discretion  of  Congress,"  and  that  "  the 
act  to  incorporate  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  is  a  law 
made  in  pursuance  of  the  constitution  ;  "  "  but,"  say  they, 
26 


302  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

"  where  the  law  is  not  prohibited,  and  is  really  calculated 
to  effect  any  of  the  objects  intrusted  to  the  government, 
to  undertake  here  to  inquire  into  the  degree  of  its  neces 
sity,  would  be  to  pass  the  line  which  circumscribes  the 
judicial  department,  and  to  tread  on  legislative  ground/' 

The  principle  here  affirmed  is,  that  the  "  degree  of  its 
necessity,"  involving  all  the  details  of  a  banking  institu 
tion,  is  a  question  exclusively  for  legislative  consideration. 
A  bank  is  constitutional  ;  but  it  is  the  province  of  the  le 
gislature  to  determine  whether  this  or  that  particular  power, 
privilege,  or  exemption,  "  is  necessary  and  proper"  to  ena 
ble  the  bank  to  discharge  its  duties  to  the  government ; 
and  from  their  decision  there  is  no  appeal  to  the  courts  of 
justice.  Under  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  there 
fore,  it  is  the  exclusive  province  of  Congress  and  the  Pres 
ident  to  decide  whether  the  particular  features  of  this  act 
are  necessary  and  proper,  in  order  to  enable  the  bank  to 
perform  conveniently  and  efficiently  the  public  duties  as 
signed  to  it  as  a  fiscal  agent,  and  therefore  constitutional; 
or  unnecessary  and  improper,  and  therefore  unconstitu 
tional.  Without  commenting  on  the  general  principle 
affirmed  by  the  Supreme  Court,  let  us  examine  the  details 
of  this  act  in  accordance  with  the  rule  of  legislative  action 
which  they  have  laid  down.  It  will  be  found  that  many  of 
the  powers  and  privileges  conferred  on  it,  cannot  be  sup 
posed  necessary  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  proposed  to 
be  created,  and  are  not,  therefore,  means  necessary  to  at 
tain  the  end  in  view,  and  consequently  not  justified  by  the 
constitution. 

The  original  act  of  incorporation,  section  21st,  enacts, 
"  that  no  other  bank  shall  be  established,  by  any  future 
law  of  the  United  States,  during  the  continuance  of  the 
corporation  hereby  created,  for  which  the  faith  of  the 
United  States  is  hereby  pledged;  Provided,  Congress  may 
renew  exiting  charters  for  banks  within  the  District  of 
Columbia,  not  increasing  the  capital  thereof;  and  may  also 
establish  any  other  bank  or  banks  in  said  District,  with 
capitals  not  exceeding  in  the  whole  six  millions  of  dollars, 
if  they  shall  deem  it  expedient."  This  provision  is  con 
tinued  in  force  by  the  act  before  me,  fifteen  years  from  the 
3d  of  March,  1S36. 


JACKSON'S  BANK  VETO.  303 

If  Congress  possessed  the  power  to  establish  one  bank, 
they  had  power  to  establish  more  than  one,  if,  in  their 
opinion,  two  or  more  banks  had  been  "  necessary  "  to  fa 
cilitate  the  execution  of  the  powers  delegated  to  them  in 
the  constitution.  If  they  possess  the  power  to  establish  a 
second  bank,  it  was  a  power  derived  from  the  constitution, 
to  be  exercised  from  time  to  time,  and  at  any  time  when 
the  interests  of  the  country  or  the  emergencies  of  the  gov 
ernment  might  make  it  expedient.  It  was  possessed  by 
one  Congress  as  well  as  another,  and  by  all  Congresses 
alike,  and  alike  at  every  session.  But  the  Congress  of 
181(5  have  taken  it  away  from  their  successors  for  twenty 
years,  and  the  Congress  of  1832  proposed  to  abolish  it  for 
fifteen  years  more.  It  cannot  be  "  necessary"  or  "proper" 
for  Congress  to  barter  away,  or  divest  themselves  of  any  of 
the  powers  vested  in  them  by  the  constitution  to  be  ex 
ercised  for  the  public  good.  It  is  not  "  necessary  "  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  bank,  nor  is  it  "proper"  in  relation  to 
themselves  and  their  successors.  They  may  "properly" 
use  the  discretion  vested  in  them,  but  they  may  not  limit 
the  discretion  of  their  successors.  This  restriction  on 
themselves,  and  grant  of  a  monopoly  to  the  bank,  is  there 
fore  unconstitutional. 

In  another  point  of  view,  this  provision  is  a  palpable 
attempt  to  amend  the  constitution  by  an  act  of  legislation. 
The  constitution  declares  that  "  the  Congress  shall  have 
power  to  exercise  exclusive  legislation,  in  all  cases  what 
soever,"  over  the  District  of  Columbia.  Its  constitutional 
power,  therefore,  to  establish  banks  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  and  increase  their  capital  at  will,  is  unlimited  and 
uncontrollable  by  any  other  power  than  that  which  gave 
authority  to  the  constitution.  Yet  this  act  declares  that 
Congress  shall  not  increase  the  capital  of  existing  banks, 
nor  create  other  banks  with  capitals  exceeding  in  the  whole 
six  million  of  dollars.  The  constitution  declares  that  Con 
gress  shall  have  power  to  exercise  exclusive  legislation 
over  this  District  "  in  all  cases  whatsoever;"  and  this  act 
declares  they  shall  not.  Which  is  the  supreme  law  of 
the  land?  This  provision  cannot  be  "necessary"  or 
"proper  "  or  "  constitutional,"  unless  the  absurdity  be  ad 
mitted,  that,  whenever  it  be  "  necessary  and  proper,"  in 


304  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  opinion  of  Congress,  they  have  a  right  to  barter  away 
one  portion  of  the  powers  vested  in  them  by  the  constitu 
tion,  as  a  means  of  executing  the  rest. 

On  two  subjects  only  does  the  constitution  recognize  in 
Congress  the  power  to  grant  exclusive  privileges  or  mo 
nopolies.  It  declares  that  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts  by  securing, 
for  limited  times,  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive 
right  to  their  respective  writings  and  discoveries." 

Out  of  this  express  delegation  of  power  have  grown  our 
laws  of  patents  and  copy-rights.  As  the  constitution  ex 
pressly  delegates  to  Congress  the  power  to  grant  exclusive 
privileges,  in  these  cases,  as  the  means  of  executing  the 
substantive  power  "  to  promote  the  progress  of  science  and 
useful  arts,"  it  is  consistent  with  the  fair  rules  of  construc 
tion,  to  conclude  that  such  a  power  was  not  intended  to  be 
granted  as  a  means  of  accomplishing  any  other  end.  On 
every  other  subject  which  comes  within  the  scope  of  con 
gressional  power  there  is  an  ever-living  discretion  in  the 
use  of  proper  means,  which  cannot  be  restricted  or  abol 
ished  without  an  amendment  of  the  constitution.  Every 
act  of  Congress,  therefore,  which  attempts  by  grants  or 
monopolies,  or  sales  of  exclusive  privileges  for  a  limited 
time,  or  a  time  without  limit,  to  restrict  or  extinguish  its 
own  discretion  in  the  choice  of  means  to  execute  its  dele 
gated  powers,  is  equivalent  to  a  legislative  amendment  of 
the  constitution,  and  palpably  unconstitutional. 

This  act  authorizes  and  encourages  transfers  of  its  stock 
to  foreigners,  and  grants  them  an  exemption  from  all  state 
and  national  taxation.  So  far  from  being  "necessary  and 
proper  "  that  the  bank  should  possess  this  power  to  make 
it  a  safe  and  efficient  agent  of  the  government  in  its  fiscal 
operations,  it  is  calculated  to  convert  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  into  a  foreign  bank,  to  impoverish  our  peo 
ple  in  time  of  peace,  to  disseminate  a  foreign  influence 
through  every  section  of  the  republic,  and  in  war,  to  en 
danger  our  independence. 

The  several  states  reserved  the  power,  at  the  formation 
of  the  constitution,  to  regulate  and  control  titles  and  trans 
fers  of  real  property  ;  and  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  have  laws 
disqualifying  aliens  from  acquiring  or  holding  lands  within 


305 

their  limits.  But  this  act,  in  disregard  of  the  undoubted 
right  of  the  states  to  prescribe  such  disqualifications,  gives 
to  aliens,  stockholders  in  this  bank,  an  interest  and  title, 
as  members  of  the  corporation,  to  all  the  real  property  it 
may  acquire  within  any  of  the  states  of  this  Union.  This 
privilege  granted  to  aliens  is  not  "  necessary "  to  enable 
the  bank  to  perform  its  public  duties,  nor  in  any  sense 
"  proper"  because  it  is  vitally  subversive  of  the  rights  of 
the  states. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  have  no  constitu 
tional  power  to  purchase  lands  within  the  states,  except 
"  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dock-yards, 
and  other  needful  buildings ;  "  and  even  for  these  objects, 
only  "  by  the  consent  of  the  legislature  of  the  state  in 
which  the  same  shall  be."  By  making  themselves  stock 
holders  in  the  bank,  and  granting  to  the  corporation  the 
power  to  purchase  lands  for  other  purposes,  they  assume  a 
power  not  granted  in  the  constitution,  and  grant  to  others 
what  they  do  not  themselves  possess.  It  is  not  "  necessary  " 
to  the  receiving,  safe-keeping,  or  transmission  of  the  funds 
of  the  government,  that  the  bank  should  possess  this  power  ; 
and  it  is  not  "  proper"  that  Congress  should  thus  enlarge 
the  powers  delegated  to  them  in  the  constitution. 

The  old  Bank  of  the  United  States  possessed  a  capital 
of  only  eleven  millions  of  dollars,  which  was  found  fully 
sufficient  to  enable  it,  with  despatch  and  safety,  to  perform 
all  the  functions  required  of  it  by  the  government.  The 
capital  of  the  present  bank  is  thirty-five  millions  of  dollars, 
at  least  twenty-four  more  than  experience  has  proved  to  be 
"  necessary  "  to  enable  a  bank  to  perform  its  public  func 
tions.  The  public  debt  which  existed  during  the  period 
of  the  old  bank,  and  on  the  establishment  of  the  new,  has 
been  nearly  paid  off,  and  our  revenue  will  soon  be  reduced. 
This  increase  of  capital  is  therefore  not  for  public,  but  for 
private  purposes. 

The  government  is  the  only  "proper"  judge  where  its 
agents  should  reside  and  keep  their  offices,  because  it  best 
knows  where  their  presence  will  be  "  necessary."  It  can 
not,  therefore,  be  "  necessary"  or  "proper"  to  authorize 
the  bank  to  locate  branches  where  it  pleases,  to  perform 
the  public  service,  without  consulting  the  government,  and 
26* 


306  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

contrary  to  its  will.  The  principle  laid  down  by  the  Su 
preme  Court  concedes  that  Congress  cannot  establish  a 
bank  for  purposes  of  private  speculation  and  gain,  but 
only  as  a  means  of  executing  the  delegated  powers  of  the 
general  government.  By  the  same  principle,  a  branch 
bank  cannot  constitutionally  be  established  for  other  than 
public  purposes.  The  power  which  this  act  gives  to  es 
tablish  two  branches  in  any  state,  without  the  injunction 
or  request  of  the  government,  and  for  other  than  public 
purposes,  is  not  "  necessary  "  to  the  due  execution  of  the 
powers  delegated  to  Congress. 

The  bonus  which  is  exacted  from  the  bank  is  a  con 
fession,  upon  the  face  of  the  act,  that  the  powers  granted 
by  it  are  greater  than  are  "  necessary"  to  its  character  of 
a  fiscal  agent.  The  government  does  not  tax  its  officers 
and  agents  for  the  privilege  of  serving  it.  The  bonus  of 
a  million  and  a  half  required  by  the  original  charter,  and 
that  of  three  millions  proposed  by  this  act,  are  not  exacted 
for  the  privilege  of  giving  "  the  necessary  facilities  for 
transferring  the  public  funds  from  place  to  place,  within 
the  United  States  or  the  territories  thereof,  and  for  distrib 
uting  the  same  in  payment  of  the  public  creditors,  without 
charging  commission  or  claiming  allowance  on  account  of 
the  difference  of  exchange,"  as  required  by  the  act  of  in 
corporation,  but  for  something  more  beneficial  to  the  stock 
holders.  The  original  act  declares,  that  it  (the  bonus)  is 
granted  "  in  consideration  of  the  exclusive  privileges  and 
benefits  conferred  by  this  act  upon  the  said  bank,"  and  the 
act  before  me  declares  it  to  be  "  in  consideration  of  the 
exclusive  benefits  and  privileges  continued  by  this  act  to 
the  said  corporation  for  fifteen  years,  as  aforesaid."  It  is, 
therefore,  for  "  exclusive  privileges  and  benefits"  conferred 
for  their  own  use  and  emclument,  and  not  for  the  advantage 
of  the  government,  that  a  bonus  is  exacted.  These  surplus 
powers,  for  which  the  bank  is  required  to  pay,  cannot  surely 
:be  "  necessary  "  to  make  it  the  fiscal  agent  of  the  treasury. 
If  they  were,  the  exaction  of  a  bonus  for  them  would  not 
be  "proper" 

It  is  maintained  by  some  that  the  bank  is  a  means  of 
executing  the  constitutirnal  power  "  to  coin  money  and 
regulate  the  value  thereof."  Congress  have  established  a 


307 

mint  to  coin  money,  and  passed  laws  to  regulate  the  value 
thereof.  The  money  so  coined,  with  the  value  so  regu 
lated,  and  such  foreign  coins  as  Congress  may  adopt,  arc 
the  only  currency  known  to  the  constitution.  But  if  they 
have  other  power  to  regulate  the  currency,  it  was  conferred 
to  be  exercised  by  themselves,  and  not  to  be  transferred  to 
a  corporation.  If  the  bank  be  established  for  that  purpose, 
with  a  charter  unalterable  without  its  consent,  Congress 
have  parted  with  their  power  for  a  term  of  years,  during 
which  the  constitution  is  a  dead  letter.  It  is  neither  ne 
cessary  nor  proper  to  transfer  its  legislative  power  to  such 
a  bank,  and  therefore  unconstitutional. 

By  its  silence,  considered  in  connection  with  the  decis 
ion  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in  the  case  of  McCulloch  against 
the  State  of  Maryland,  this  act  takes  from  the  states  the 
power  to  tax  a  portion  of  the  banking  business  carried  on 
within  their^  limits,  in  subversion  of  one  of  the  strongest 
barriers  which  secured  them  against  federal  encroachments. 
Banking,  like  farming,  manufacturing,  or  any  other  occu 
pation  or  profession,  is  a  business,  the  right  to  follow  which 
is  not  originally  derived  from  the  laws.  Every  citizen  and 
every  company  of  citizens,  in  all  of  our  states,  possessed 
the  right,  until  the  state  legislatures  deemed  it  good  policy 
to  prohibit  private  banking  by  law.  If  the  prohibitory 
state  laws  were  now  repealed,  every  citizen  would  again 
possess  the  right.  The  state  banks  are  a  qualified  restora 
tion  of  the  right  which  lias  been  taken  away  by  the  laws 
against  banking,  guarded  by  such  provisions  and  limitations 
as  in  the  opinion  of  the  state  legislatures  the  public  interest 
requires.  These  corporations,  unless  there  be  an  exemp 
tion  in  their  charter,  are,  like  private  bankers  and  bank 
ing  companies,  subject  to  state  taxation.  The  manner  in 
which  these  taxes  shall  be  laid,  depends  wholly  on  legisla 
tive  discretion.  It  may  be  upon  the  bank,  upon  the  stock, 
upon  the  profits,  or  in  any  other  mode  which  the  sovereign 
power  shall  will. 

Upon  the  formation  of  the  constitution  the  states  guard 
ed  their  taxing  power  with  peculiar  jealousy.  They  sur 
rendered  it  only  as  regards  imports  and  exports.  In  rela 
tion  to  every  other  object  within  their  jurisdiction,  whether 
persons,  property,  business,  or  professions,  it  was  secured 


308  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

in  as  ample  a  manner  as  it  was  before  possessed.  All 
persons,  though  United  States'  officers,  are  liable  to  a  poll 
tax  by  the  states  within  which  they  reside.  The  lands  of 
the  United  States  are  liable  to  the  usual  land  tax,  except 
in  the  new  states,  from  whom  agreements  that  they  will 
not  tax  unsold  lands  are  exacted  when  they  are  admitted 
into  the  Union  ;  horses,  wagons,  any  beasts  or  vehicles, 
tools  or  property  belonging  to  private  citizens,  though 
employed  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  are  subject 
to  state  taxation.  Every  private  business,  whether  car 
ried  on  by  an  officer  of  the  general  government  or  not, 
whether  it  be  mixed  with  the  public  concerns  or  not,  even 
if  it  be  carried  on  by  the  United  States  itself,  separately 
or  in  partnership,  falls  within  the  scope  of  the  taxing 
power  of  the  state.  Nothing  comes  more  fully  within  it 
than  banks,  and  the  business  of  banking,  by  whomsoever 
instituted  and  carried  on.  Over  this  whole  subject  mat- 
ter,  it  is  just  as  absolute,  unlimited,  and  uncontrollable, 
as  if  the  constitution  never  had  been  adopted,  because  in 
the  formation  of  that  instrument,  it  was  reserved  without 
qualification. 

The  principle  is  conceded  that  the  states  cannot  right 
fully  tax  the  operations  of  the  general  government.  They 
cannot  tax  the  money  of  the  government  deposited  in  the 
state  banks,  nor  the  agency  of  those  banks  in  remitting  it ; 
but  will  any  man  maintain  that  their  mere  selection  to 
perform  this  public  service  for  the  general  government, 
would  exempt  the  state  banks  and  their  ordinary  business 
from  state  taxation  ?  Had  the  United  States,  instead  of 
establishing  a  bank  at  Philadelphia,  employed  a  private 
banker  to  keep  and  transmit  their  funds,  would  it  have 
deprived  Pennsylvania  of  the  right  to  tax  his  bank  and 
his  usual  banking  operations  1  It  will  not  be  pretended. 
Upon  what  principle,  then,  are  the  banking  establishments 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  their  usual  banking 
operations,  to  be  exempted  from  taxation  ?  It  is  not  their 
public  agency  or  the  deposits  of  the  government  which  the 
states  claim  a  right  to  tax,  but  their  banks,  and  their  bank 
ing  powers,  instituted  and  exercised  within  state  jurisdic 
tion  for  their  private  emolument,  those  powers  and  privi 
leges  for  which  they  pay  a  bonus,  and  which  the  states  tax 


JACKSON'S  BANK  VETO.  309 

in  their  own  banks.  The  exercise  of  these  powers  within 
a  state,  no  matter  by  whom,  or  under  what  authority, 
whether  by  private  citizens  in  their  original  right,  by  cor 
porate  bodies  created  by  the  states,  by  foreigners,  or  the 
agents  of  foreign  governments  located  within  their  limits, 
forms  a  legitimate  object  of  state  taxation.  From  this  and 
like  sources,  from  the  persons,  property,  and  business  that 
are  found  residing,  located,  or  carried  on  under  their 
jurisdiction,  must  the  states,  since  the  surrender  of  their 
right  to  raise  a  revenue  from  imports  and  exports,  draw 
all  the  money  necessary  for  the  support  of  their  govern 
ments  and  the  maintenance  of  their  independence.  There 
is  no  more  appropriate  subject  of  taxation  than  banks, 
banking,  and  bank  stocks,  and  none  to  which  the  states 
ought  more  pertinaciously  to  cling. 

It  cannot  be  "  necessary  "  to  the  character  of  the  bank 
as  a  fiscal  agent  of  the  government,  that  its  private  busi 
ness  should  be  exempted  from  that  taxation  to  which  all 
state  banks  are  liable ;  nor  can  I  conceive  it  "proper  " 
that  the  substantive  and  most  essential  powers  reserved 
by  the  states  shall  be  thus  attacked  and  annihilated  as  a 
means  of  executing  the  powers  delegated  to  the  general 
government.  It  may  be  safely  assumed  that  none  of 
those  sages  who  had  an  agency  in  forming  or  adopting 
our  constitution,  ever  imagined  that  any  portion  of  the 
taxing  power  of  the  states,  not  prohibited  to  them  nor 
delegated  to  Congress,  was  to  be  swept  away  and  annihi 
lated,  as  a  means  of  executing  certain  powers  delegated  to 
Congress. 

If  our  power  over  means  is  so  absolute  that  the  Su 
preme  Court  will  not  call  in  question  the  constitutionality 
of  an  act  of  Congress,  the  subject  of  which  "  is  not  pro 
hibited,  and  is  really  calculated  l.o  effect  any  of  the  objects 
intrusted  to  the  government,"  although,  as  in  the  case 
before  me,  it  takes  away  powers  expressly  granted  to 
Congress,  and  rights  scrupulously  reserved  to  the  states, 
it  becomes  us  to  proceed  in  our  legislation  with  the  ut 
most  caution.  Though  not  directly,  our  own  powers  and 
the  rights  of  the  states  may  be  indirectly  legislated  away 
in  the  use  of  means  to  execute  substantive  powers.  We 
may  not  enact  that  Congress  shall  not  have  the  power  of 


310  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

exclusive  legislation  over  the  District  of  Columbia,  but 
we  may  pledge  the  faith  of  the  United  States  that,  as  a 
means  of  executing  other  powers,  it  shall  not  be  exercised 
for  twenty  years,  or  forever.  We  may  not  pass  an  act 
prohibiting  the  states  to  tax  the  banking  business  carried 
on  within  their  limits,  but  we  may,  as  a  means  of  execu 
ting  power  over  other  objects,  place  that  business  in  the 
hands  of  our  agents,  and  then  declare  it  exempt  from 
state  taxation  in  their  hands.  Thus  may  our  own  powers 
and  the  rights  of  the  states,  which  we  cannot  directly 
curtail  or  invade,  be  frittered  away  and  extinguished  in 
the  use  of  means  employed  by  us  to  execute  other  powers. 
That  a  Bank  of  the  United  States,  competent  to  all  the 
duties  which  may  be  required  by  the  government,  might 
be  so  organized  as  not  to  infringe  on  our  own  delegated 
powers,  or  the  reserved  rights  of  the  states,  I  do  not  en 
tertain  a  doubt.  Had  the  executive  been  called  upon  to 
furnish  the  project  of  such  an  institution,  the  duty  would 
have  been  cheerfully  performed.  In  the  absence  of  such  a 
call,  it  is  obviously  proper  that  he  should  confine  himself 
to  pointing  out  those  prominent  features  in  the  act  pre 
sented,  which,  in  his  opinion,  make  it  incompatible  with 
the  constitution  and  sound  policy.  A  general  discussion 
will  now  take  place,  eliciting  new  light,  and  settling  im 
portant  principles ;  and  a  new  Congress,  elected  in  the 
midst  of  such  discussion,  and  furnishing  an  equal  repre 
sentation  of  the  people  according  to  the  last  census,  will 
bear  to  the  capitol  the  verdict  of  public  opinion,  and,  I 
doubt  not,  bring  this  important  question  to  a  satisfactory- 
result. 

Under  such  circumstances,  the  bank  comes  forward 
and  asks  a  renewal  of  its  charter  for  a  term  of  fifteen 
years,  upon  conditions  which  not  only  operate  as  a  gra 
tuity  to  the  stockholders  of  many  millions  of  dollars,  but 
will  sanction  any  abuses  and  legalize  any  encroachments. 

Suspicions  are  entertained,  and  charges  are  made,  of 
gross  abuse  and  violation  of  its  charter.  An  investigation 
unwillingly  conceded,  and  so  restricted  in  time  as  neces 
sarily  to  make  it  incomplete  and  unsatisfactory,  disclosed 
enough  to  excite  suspicion  arid  alarm.  In  the  practices 
of  the  principal  bank  partially  unveiled,  in  the  absence  of 


311 

important  witnesses,  and  in  numerous  charges  confidently 
made,  and  as  yet  wholly  uninvestigated,  there  was  enough 
to  induce  a  majority  of  the  committee  of  investigation,  a 
committee  which  was  selected  from  the  most  able  and 
honorable  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  to 
recommend  a  suspension  of  further  action  upon  the  bill, 
and  a  prosecution  of  the  inquiry.  As  the  charter  had  yet 
four  years  to  run,  and  as  a  renewal  now  was  not  necessary 
to  the  successful  prosecution  of  its  business,  it  was  to  have 
been  expected  that  the  bank  itself,  conscious  of  its  purity, 
and  proud  of  its  character,  would  have  withdrawn  its  ap 
plication  for  the  present,  and  demanded  the  severest  scru 
tiny  into  all  its  transactions.  In  their  declining  to  do 
so,  there  seems  to  be  an  additional  reason  why  the  func 
tionaries  of  the  government  should  proceed  with  less  haste 
and  more  caution  in  the  renewal  of  their  monopoly. 

The  bank  is  professedly  established  as  an  agent  of  the 
executive  branches  of  the  government,  and  its  consti 
tutionality  is  maintained  on  that  ground.  Neither  upon 
the  propriety  of  present  action,  nor  upon  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  was  the  executive  consulted.  It  has  had  no 
opportunity  to  say  that  it  neither  needs  nor  wants  an  agent 
clothed  with  such  powers,  and  favored  by  such  exemp 
tions.  There  is  nothing  in  its  legitimate  functions  which 
makes  it  necessary  or  proper.  Whatever  interest  or  influ 
ence,  whether  public  or  private,  has  given  birth  to  this 
act,  it  cannot  be  found  either  in  the  wishes  or  necessities 
of  the  executive  department,  by  which  present  action  is 
deemed  premature,  and  the  powers  conferred  upon  its 
agent  not  only  unnecessary,  but  dangerous  to  the  gov 
ernment  and  country. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  rich  and  powerful  too  often 
bend  the  acts  of  government  to  their  selfish  purposes. 
Distinctions  in  society  will  always  exist  under  every  just 
government.  Equality  of  talents,  of  education,  or  of 
wealth,  cannot  be  produced  by  human  institutions.  In 
the  full  enjoyment  of  the  gifts  of  Heaven,  and  the  fruits 
of  superior  industry,  economy,  and  virtue,  every  man  is 
equally  entitled  to  protection  by  law.  But  when  the  laws 
undertake  to  add  to  these  natural  and  just  advantages, 
artificial  distinctions,  to  grant  titles,  gratuities,  and  ex- 


312  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

elusive  privileges,  to  make  the  rich  richer,  and  the  potent 
more  powerful,  the  humble  members  of  society,  the  farm 
ers,  mechanics,  and  laborers,  who  have  neither  the  time 
nor  the  means  of  securing  like  favors  to  themselves,  have 
a  right  to  complain  of  the  injustice  of  their  government. 
There  are  no  necessary  evils  in  government.  Its  evils 
exist  only  in  its  abuses.  If  it  would  confine  itself  to 
equal  protection,  and,  as  Heaven  does  its  rains,  shower  its 
favors  alike  on  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  it  would  be  an  unqualified  blessing.  In  the  act 
before  me,  there  seems  to  be  a  wide  and  unnecessary 
departure  from  these  just  principles. 

Nor  is  our  government  to  be  maintained,  or  our  Union 
preserved,  by  invasion  of  the  rights  and  powers  of  the 
several  states.  In  thus  attempting  to  make  our  general 
government  strong,  we  make  it  weak.  Its  true  strength 
consists  in  leaving  individuals  and  states,  as  much  as 
possible,  to  themselves  ;  in  making  itself  felt,  not  in  its 
power,  but  in  its  beneficence;  not  in  its  control,  but  in  its 
protection  ;  not  in  binding  the  states  more  closely  to  the 
centre,  but  leaving  each  to  move  unobstructed  in  its 
proper  orbit. 

Experience  should  teach  us  wisdom.  Most  of  the  diffi 
culties  our  government  now  encounters,  and  most  of  the 
dangers  which  impend  over  our  Union,  have  sprung  from 
an  abandonment  of  the  legitimate  objects  of  government 
by  our  national  legislation,  and  the  adoption  of  such  prin 
ciples  as  are  imbodied  in  this  act.  Many  of  our  rich  men 
have  not  been  content  with  equal  protection  and  equal 
benefits,  but  have  besought  us  to  make  them  richer  by  act 
of  Congress.  By  attempting  to  gratify  their  desires,  we 
have,  in  the  results  of  our  legislation,  arrayed  section 
against  section,  interest  against  interest,  and  man  against 
man,  in  a  fearful  commotion,  which  threatens  to  shake 
the  foundations  of  our  Union.  It  is  time  to  pause  in  our 
career,  to  review  our  principles,  and,  if  possible,  revive 
that  devoted  patriotism  and  spirit  of  compromise  which 
distinguished  the  sages  of  the  revolution  and  the  fathers 
of  our  Union.  If  we  cannot  at  once,  in  justice  to  the 
interests  vested  under  improvident  legislation,  make  our 
government  what  it  ought  to  be,  we  can  at  least  take  a 


TYLER'S  FIRST  BANK  VETO.  313 

stand  against  all  new  grants  of  monopolies  and  exclusive 
privileges,  against  any  prostitution  of  our  government  to 
the  advancement  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many, 
and  in  favor  of  compromise  and  gradual  reform  in  our 
code  of  laws  and  system  of  political  economy. 

I  have  now  done  my  duty  to  my  country.  If  sustained 
by  my  fellow-citizens,  I  shall  be  grateful  and  happy ;  if 
not,  I  shall  find  in  the  motives  which  impel  me,  ample 
grounds  for  contentment  and  peace.  In  the  difficulties 
which  surround  us,  and  the  dangers  which  threaten  our 
institutions,  there  is  cause  for  neither  dismay  nor  alarm. 
For  relief  and  deliverance,  let  us  firmly  rely  on  that  kind 
Providence  which,  I  am  sure,  watches  with  peculiar  care 
over  the  destinies  of  our  republic,  and  on  the  intelligence 
and  wisdom  of  our  countrymen.  Through  His  abundant 
goodness,  and  their  patriotic  devotion,  our  liberty  and 
union  will  be  preserved. 


TYLER'S   FIRST  RANK  VETO. 

AUGUST  16,  1841. 

To  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  : 

THE  bill  entitled  "  An  act  to  incorporate  the  subscribers 
to  the  Fiscal  Bank  of  the  United  States,"  which  origina 
ted  in  the  Senate,  has  been  considered  by  me,  with  a  sin 
cere  desire  to  conform  my  action  in  regard  to  it  to  that 
of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress.  By  the  constitution  it 
is  made  my  duty  either  to  approve  the  bill  by  the  signing 
act,  or  to  return  it,  with  my  objections,  to  the  house  in 
which  it  originated.  I  cannot  conscientiously  give  it  my 
approval,  and  I  proceed  to  discharge  the  duty  required  of 
me  by  the  constitution  —  to  give  my  reasons  for  disap 
proving. 

The  power  of  Congress  to  create  a  national  bank  to  op 
erate  per  se  over  the  Union,  has  been  a  question  of  dis 
pute  from  the  origin  of  our  government.  Men  most  justly 
and  deservedly  esteemed  for  their  high  intellectual  en- 
27 


314  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

dowments,  their  virtue,  and  their  patriotism,  have,  in  re 
gard  to  it,  entertained  different  and  conflicting  opinions. 
Congresses  have  differed.  The  approval  of  one  President 
has  been  followed  by  the  disapproval  of  another.  The 
people  at  different  times  have  acquiesced  in  decisions  both 
for  and  against.  The  country  has  been,  and  still  is,  deeply 
agitated  by  this  unsettled  question.  It  will  suffice  for  me 
to  say,  that  my  own  opinion  has  been  uniformly  pro 
claimed  to  be  against  the  exercise  of  any  such  power  by 
this  government.  On  all  suitable  occasions,  during  a  pe 
riod  of  twenty-five  years,  the  opinion  thus  entertained 
has  been  unreservedly  expressed.  I  declared  it  in  the 
legislature  of  my  native  state.  In  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  United  States  it  has  been  openly  vindi 
cated  by  me. 

In  the  Senate  chamber,  in  the  presence  and  hearing 
of  many  who  are  at  this  time  members  of  that  body,  it 
has  been  affirmed  and  re-affirmed,  in  speeches  and  re 
ports  there  made,  and  by  votes  there  recorded.  In  popu 
lar  assemblies  I  have  unhesitatingly  announced  it ;  and 
the  last  public  declaration  which  I  have  made,  and  that 
but  a  short  time  before  the  late  presidential  election,  I  re 
ferred  to  my  previously  expressed  opinions  as  being  those 
then  entertained  by  me ;  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the 
opinions  thus  entertained,  and  never  conceded,  I  was 
elected  by  the  people  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 
By  the  occurrence  of  a  contingency  provided  for  by  the 
constitution,  and  arising  under  an  impressive  dispensa 
tion  of  Providence,  I  succeeded  to  the  presidential  office. 
Before  entering  upon  the  duties  of  that  office,  I  took  an 
oath  that  I  would  "preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  con 
stitution  of  the  United  States." 

Entertaining  the  opinions  alluded  to,  and  having  taken 
this  oath,  the  Senate  and  the  country  will  see  that  I  could 
not  give  my  sanction  to  a  measure  of  the  character  de 
scribed,  without  surrendering  all  claim  to  the  respect  of 
honorable  men  —  all  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  people 
—  all  self-respect —  all  regard  for  moral  and  religious  ob 
ligations;  without  an  observance  of  which,  no  govern 
ment  can  be  prosperous,  and  no  people  can  be  happy. 
It  would  be  to  commit  a  crime  which  I  would  not  wil- 


j 


315 

fully  commit  to  gain  any  earthly  reward,  and  which  would 
justly  subject  me  to  the^  ridicule  and  scorn  of  all  virtu 
ous  men. 

I  deem  it  entirely  unnecessary  at  this  time  to  enter  upon 
the  reasons  which  have  brought  my  mind  to  the  convic 
tions  I  feel  and  entertain  on  this  subject.  They  have  over 
and  over  again  been  repeated.  If  some  of  those  who  have 
preceded  me  in  this  high  office  have  entertained  and 
avowed  different  opinions,  I  yield  all  confidence  that  their 
convictions  were  sincere.  I  claim  only  to  have  the  same 
measure  meted  out  to  myself.  Without  going  further  into 
the  argument,  I  will  say  that,  in  looking  to  the  powers  of 
this  government  to  collect,  safely  keep,  and  disburse  the 
public  revenue,  and  incidentally  regulate  the  commerce 
and  exchanges,  I  have  not  been  able  to  satisfy  myself  that 
the  establishment,  by  this  government,  of  a  bank  of  dis 
count,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  that  term,  was  a 
necessary  means,  or  one  demanded  by  propriety,  to  execute 
those  powers.  What  can  the  local  discounts  of  a  bank 
have  to  do  with  the  collecting,  safe-keeping,  and  disbursing 
of  the  revenue  ? 

So  far  as  the  mere  discounting  of  a  paper  is  con 
cerned,  it  is  quite  immaterial  to  this  question,  whether  the 
discount  is  obtained  at  a  state  bank  or  a  United  States 
Bank. 

They  are  both  equally  local  —  both  beginning  and  both 
ending  in  a  local  accommodation.  What  influence  have 
local  discounts,  granted  by  any  form  of  banks,  in  the  reg 
ulating  of  the  currency  and  the  exchanges  ?  Let  the  his 
tory  of  the  late  United  States  Bank  aid  us  in  answering 
this  inquiry. 

For  several  years  after  the  establishment  of  that  insti 
tution,  it  dealt  almost  exclusively  in  local  discounts,  and 
during  that  period  the  country  was,  for  the  most  part, 
disappointed  in  the  consequences  anticipated  from  its  in 
corporation.  A  uniform  currency  was  not  provided,  ex 
changes  were  not  regulated,  and  little  or  nothing  was 
added  to  the  general  circulation;  and  in  1820  its  em 
barrassments  had  become  so  great,  that  the  directors  peti 
tioned  Congress  to  repeal  that  article  of  the  charter  which 


316  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

made  its  notes  receivable  every  where,  in  payment  of 
public  dues. 

It  had,  to  that  period,  dealt  to  but  a  very  small  extent 
in  exchanges,  either  foreign  or  domestic ;  and  as  late  as 
1832,  its  operations  in  that  line  amounted  to  little  more 
than  $7,090,000  per  annum  :  a  very  rapid  augmentation 
soon  after  occurred,  and  in  1833  its  dealings  in  the  ex 
changes  amounted  to  upward  of  £100,000,000,  including 
the  sales  of  its  own  drafts  ;  and  all  these  immense  trans 
actions  were  effected  without  the  employment  of  extraor 
dinary  means.  The  currency  of  the  country  became 
sound,  and  the  negotiations  in  the  exchanges  were  carried 
on  at  the  lowest  possible  rates. 

The  circulation  was  increased  to  more  than  $22,000,000, 
and  the  notes  of  the  bank  were  regarded  as  equal  to 
specie  all  over  the  country  ;  thus  showing,  most  conclu 
sively,  that  it  was  their  capacity  to  deal  in  exchanges, 
and  not  in  local  discounts,  which  furnished  these  facili 
ties  and  advantages.  It  may  be  remembered,  too,  that 
notwithstanding  the  immense  transactions  of  the  bank, 
in  the  purchase  of  exchange,  the  losses  were  merely  nom 
inal,  while  in  the  time  of  discounts,  the  suspended  debt 
was  enormous,  and  found  most  disastrous  to  the  bank 
and  the  country.  Its  power  of  local  discount  has,  in 
fact,  proved  to  be  a  fruitful  source  of  favoritism  and  cor 
ruption,  alike  destructive  to  the  public  morals  and  to  the 
general  weal. 

The  capital  invested  in  banks  of  discount  in  the  United 
States  at  this  time  exceeds  $350,000,000 ;  and  if  the  dis 
counting  of  local  paper  could  have  produced  any  benefi 
cial  effects,  the  United  States  ought  to  possess  the  sound 
est  currency  in  the  world ;  but  the  reverse  is  lamentably 
the  fact. 

Is  the  measure  now  under  consideration  of  the  objec 
tionable  character  to  which  I  have  alluded  ?  It  is  clearly 
so.  unless  by  the  16th  fundamental  article  of  the  llth 
section  it  is  made  otherwise.  That  article  is  in  the  fol 
lowing  words :  — 

"  The  directors  of  the  said  corporation  shall  establish 
one  competent  office  of  discount  and  deposit  in  any  state 


317 

in  which  two  thousand  share*  shall  have  been  subscribed, 
or  may  be  held,  whenever,  upon  application  of  the  legis 
lature  of  such  state,  Congress  may,  by  law,  require  the 
same.  And  the  said  directors  may  also  establish  one  or 
more  competent  offices  of  discount  and  deposit  in  any  ter 
ritory  or  district  of  the  United  States,  and  in  any  state, 
with  the  assent  of  such  state ;  and  when  established,  the 
said  office  or  offices  shall  be  only  withdrawn  or  removed 
by  the  said  directors,  prior  to  the  expiration  of  this  char 
ter,  with  the  previous  assent  of  Congress. 

"  Provided,  in  respect  to  any  state  which  shall  not,  at 
the  first  session  of  the  legislature  thereof,  held  after  the 
passage  of  this  act,  by  resolution,  or  other  usual  legisla 
tive  proceeding,  unconditionally  assent  or  dissent  to  the 
establishment  of  such  office  or  offices  within  it,  such  assent 
of  the  said  state  shall  be  thereafter  presumed  ;  and  provided, 
nevertheless,  That,  whenever  it  shall  become  necessary  and 
proper  for  carrying  into  execution  any  of  the  powers  granted 
by  the  Constitution,  to  establish  an  office  or  offices  in  any 
of  the  states  whatever,  and  the  establishment  thereof  shall 
be  directed  by  law,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  said  directors 
to  establish  such  office  or  offices  accordingly." 

It  will  be  seen  by  this  clause  that  the  directors  are 
invested  with  the  fullest  power  to  establish  a  branch  in 
any  state  which  has  yielded  its  assent,  and,  having  es 
tablished  such  branch,  it  shall  not  afterward  be  withdrawn 
except  by  order  of  Congress.  Such  assent  is  to  be  implied, 
and  to  have  the  force  and  sanction  of  an  actually  expressed 
assent,  "  provided,  in  respect  to  any  state  which  shall  not, 
at  the  first  session  of  the  legislature  held  thereof  after  the 
passage  of  this  act,  by  resolution  or  other  usual  legislative 
proceeding,  unconditionally  assent  or  dissent  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  such  office  or  offices  within  it,  such  assent 
of  such  state  shall  be  presumed."  The  assent  or  dissent 
is  to  be  expressed  unconditionally,  at  the  first  session  of  the 
legislature,  by  some  formal  legislative  act;  and  if  not  so 
expressed,  its  assent  is  to  be  implied,  and  the  directors  are 
therefore  invested  with  power,  at  such  time  thereafter  as 
they  may  please,  to  establish  branches,  which  cannot  after 
ward  be  withdrawn,  except  by  resolve  of  Congress :  no 
matter  what  may  be  the  cause  which  may  operate  with  the 
27* 


318  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

legislature,  which  either  prevents  it  from  speaking,  or  ad 
dresses  itself  to  its  wisdom  to  induce  delay,  its  assent  is  to 
be  implied  —  binding  and  inflexible.  It  is  the  lawgiver  of 
the  master  to  the  vassal ;  an  unconditional  answer  is  claimed 
forthwith,  and  delay,  postponement,  or  incapacity  to  an 
swer,  produces  an  implied  assent,  which  is  ever  after 
irrevocable. 

Many  of  the  state  elections  have  already  taken  place, 
without  any  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  people,  that  such 
a  question  was  to  come  up.  The  representatives  may  de 
sire  a  submission  of  the  question  to  their  constituents  pre 
paratory  to  final  action  upon  it,  but  this  high  privilege  is 
denied  ;  whatever  may  be  the  motives  and  views  entertained 
by  the  representatives  of  the  people  to  induce  delay,  their 
.assent  is  to  be  presumed,  and  is  ever  afterward  binding, 
unless  their  dissent  shall  be  unconditionally  expressed  at 
their  first  session  after  the  passage  of  this  bill  into  a  law. 

They  may  by  formal  resolution  declare  the  question  of 
assent  or  dissent  to  be  undecided  and  postponed,  and  yet, 
in  opposition  to  their  express  declaration  to  the  contrary, 
their  assent  is  to  be  implied.  Cases  innumerable  might  be 
cited  to  manifest  the  irrationality  of  such  an  inference. 
Let  one  or  two  in  addition  suffice  —  the  popular  branch  of 
the  legislature  may  express  the  dissent  by  a  unanimous 
vote,  and  its  resolution  may  be  defeated  by  the  vote  of 
the  Senate  ;  and  yet  the  assent  is  to  be  implied.  Both 
branches  of  the  legislature  may  concur  in  a  resolution  of 
decided  dissent,  and  yet  the  governor  may  exert  the  veto 
power  conferred  on  him  by  the  state  constitution,  and 
their  legislative  action  be  defeated ;  and  yet  the  assent  of 
the  legislative  authority  is  implied,  and  the  directors  of 
this  contemplated  institution  are  authorized  to  establish  a 
branch  or  branches  in  such  state,  whenever  they  may  find 
it  conducive  to  the  interest  of  the  stockholders  to  do  so ; 
and  having  once  established  it,  they  can  under  no  circum 
stances  withdraw  it,  except  by  an  act  of  Congress. 

The  state  may  afterward  protest  against  any  such  unjust 
inference  —  but  its  authority  is  gone.  Its  assent  is  implied 
by  its  failure  or  inability  to  act  at  its  first  session,  and  its 
voice  can  never  afterward  be  heard.  To  inferences  so 
violent,  and,  as  they  seem  to  me,  irrational,  I  cannot  yield 


319 

my  consent.  No  court  of  justice  would  or  could  sanction 
them,  without  reversing  all  that  is  established  in  judicial 
proceedings,  by  introducing  presumptions  at  variance  to  the 
fact,  and  inferences  at  the  expense  of  reason.  A  state  in  a 
condition  of  duress  would  be  presumed  to  speak,  as  an  in 
dividual  manacled  and  imprisoned  might  be  presumed  to 
be  in  the  enjoyment  of  freedom.  Far  better  to  say  to  the 
states  boldly  and  frankly  —  Congress  wills,  and  submis 
sion  is  demanded. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  directors  may  not  establish 
branches  under  such  circumstances;  but  this  is  a  question 
of  power,  and  this  bill  invests  them  with  full  power  to  do 
so.  If  the  legislature  of  New  York,  or  Pennsylvania,  or  any 
other  state,  should  be  found  in  such  condition  as  I  have 
supposed,  could  there  be  any  security  furnished  against 
such  a  step  on  the  part  of  the  directors  ?  Nay,  is  it  not 
fairly  to  be  presumed  that  this  proviso  was  introduced  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  meeting  the  contingency  referred  to  ? 
Why  else  should  it  have  been  introduced  ? 

And  I  would  submit  to  the  Senate,  whether  it  can  be 
believed,  that  any  state  would  be  likely  to  sit  quietly  down, 
under  such  a  state  of  things  ?  In  a  great  measure  of  pub 
lic  interest  their  patriotism  may  be  successfully  appealed 
to;  but  to  infer  their  assent  from  circumstances  at  war  with 
such  inference,  I  cannot  but  regard  as  calculated  to  excite 
a  feeling  at  fatal  enmity  with  the  peace  and  harmony  of 
the  country.  I  must  therefore  regard  this  clause  as  assert 
ing  the  power  to  be  in  Congress  to  establish  offices  of  dis 
count  in  a  state,  not  only  without  its  assent,  but  against  its 
dissent ;  and  so  regarding  it,  I  cannot  sanction  it. 

On  general  principles,  the  right  in  Congress  to  pre 
scribe  terms  to  any  state,  implies  a  superiority  of  power 
and  control,  deprives  the  transaction  of  all  pretence  to  the 
compact  between  them,  and  terminates,  as  we  have  seen, 
in  the  total  abrogation  of  freedom  and  action  on  the  part 
of  the  states.  But  fourth  ;  the  state  may  express,  after  the 
most  solemn  form  of  legislation,  its  dissent,  which  may 
from  time  to  time  thereafter  be  repeated,  in  full  view  of  its 
own  interest,  which  can  never  be  separated  from  the  wise 
and  beneficent  operations  of  this  government ;  and  yet 
Congress  may,  by  virtue  of  the  last  proviso,  overrule  its 
law.  and  upon  grounds  which,  to  such  state,  will  appear 


320  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

to  rest    on    a   constructive  necessity  and   propriety,    and 
nothing  more. 

I  regard  the  bill  as  asserting  for  Congress  the  right  to 
incorporate  a  United  States  Bank,  with  power  and  right  to 
establish  offices  of  discount  and  deposit  in  the  several 
states  of  this  Union,  with  or  without  their  consent  —  a  prin 
ciple  to  which  I  have  always  heretofore  been  opposed,  and 
which  can  never  obtain  my  sanction.  And  waiving  all 
other  considerations  growing  out  of  its  other  provisions,  I 
return  it  to  the  house  in  which  it  originated  with  these  my 
objections  to  its  approval. 


TYLER'S   SECOND  BANK  VETO. 

SEPTEMBER  9,  1841. 

To  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  : 

IT  is  with  extreme  regret  that  I  feel  myself  constrained, 
by  the  duty  faithfully  to  execute  the  office  of  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  to  the  best  of  my  ability  "  to  pre 
serve,  protect,  and  defend  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,"  to  return  to  that  house  in  which  it-  originated  the 
bill  "  to  provide  for  the  better  collection,  safe-keeping, 
and  disbursement  of  the  public  revenue  by  means  of  a 
corporation  to  be  styled  the  Fiscal  Corporation  of  the 
United  States,"  with  my  written  objections. 

In  my  message  sent  to  the  Senate  on  the  16th  day  of 
August  last,  returning  the  bill  "  to  incorporate  the  sub 
scribers  to  the  Fiscal  Bank  of  the  United  States,"  I  dis 
tinctly  declared  that  "  my  own  opinion  has  been  uniformly 
proclaimed  to  be  against  the  exercise  of  the  power  of 
Congress  to  create  a  national  bank,  to  operate  per  se  over 
the  Union;"  and  entertaining  that  opinion,  my  main  ob 
jection  to  that  bill  was  based  upon  the  highest  moral  and 
religious  obligations  of  conscience  and  the  constitution. 
I  readily  admit,  that,  whilst  the  qualified  Veto  with 
which  the  chief  magistrate  is  invested,  should  be  re 
garded,  and  was  intended  by  the  wise  men  who  made  it  a 
part  of  the  constitution,  as  a  great  conservative  principle 


321 

of  our  system,  without  the  exercise  of  which,  on  important 
occasions,  a  mere  representative  majority  might  urge  the 
government,  in  its  legislation,  beyond  the  limits  fixed  by 
its  framers,  or  might  exert  its  just  powers  too  hastily  or 
oppressively,  yet  it  is  a  power  which  ought  to  be  most 
cautiously  exerted,  and  perhaps  never,  except  in  a  case 
eminently  involving  the  public  interest,  or  one  in  which 
the  oath  of  the  President,  acting  under  his  convictions, 
both  mental  and  moral,  imperiously  requires  its  exercise. 
In  such  a  case,  he  has  no  alternative.  He  must  either 
exert  the  negative  power  intrusted  to  him  by  the  constitu 
tion  chiefly  for  its  own  preservation,  protection,  and  de 
fence,  or  commit  an  act  of  gross  moral  turpitude.  Mere 
regard  to  the  will  of  a  majority,  must  not,  in  a  constitutional 
republic  like  ours,  control  this  sacred  and  solemn  duty 
of  a  sworn  officer.  The  constitution  itself  I  regard  and 
cherish  as  the  imbodied  and  written  will  of  the  whole  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States.  It  is  their  fixed  and  fundamental 
law,  which  they  unanimously  prescribe  to  the  public  func 
tionaries,  their  mere  trustees  and  servants.  This  their 
will,  and  the  law  which  they  have  given  us  as  the  rule  of 
our  action,  has  no  guard,  no  guaranty  of  preservation, 
protection,  and  defence,  but  the  oaths  which  it  prescribes 
to  public  officers,  the  sanctity  with  which  they  shall  reli 
giously  observe  those  oaths,  and  the  patriotism  with  which 
the  people  shall  shield  it  by  their  own  sovereignty,  which 
has  made  the  constitution  supreme.  It  must  be  exerted 
against  the  will  of  a  mere  representative  majority,  or  not  at 
all.  It  is  alone  in  pursuance  of  that  will  that  any  measure 
can  ever  reach  the  President;  and  to  say,  because  a  ma 
jority  in  Congress  have  passed  a  bill,  the  President  should 
therefore  sanction  it,  is  to  abrogate  the  power  altogether, 
and  to  render  its  insertion  in  the  constitution  a  work  of 
absolute  supererogation.  The  duty  is  to  guard  the  funda 
mental  will  of  the  people  themselves  from  —  in  this  case  I 
admit  unintentional  —  change  or  infraction  by  a  majority 
in  Congress ;  and  in  that-  light  alone  do  I  regard  the  con 
stitutional  duty  which  I  now  most  reluctantly  discharge. 

Is  this  bill,  now  presented  for  my  approval,  such  a  bill 
as  I  have  already  declared  could  not  receive  my  sanction? 
Is  it  such  a  bill  as  calls  for  the  exercise  of  the  negative 


322  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

power  under  the  constitution  1  Does  it  violate  the  const! 
tution  by  creating  a  national  bank  to  operate  per  se  over 
the  Union?  Its  title,  in  the  first  place,  describes  its  gen 
eral  character.  It  is  "  An  act  to  provide  for  the  better 
collection,  safe-keeping,  and  disbursement  of  the  public 
revenue  by  means  of  a  corporation,  to  be  styled  the  Fiscal 
Corporation  of  the  United  States."  In  style,  then,  it  is 
plainly  national  in  its  character.  Its  powers,  functions, 
and  duties,  are  those  pertaining  to  the  collecting,  keeping,  . 
and  disbursing  the  public  revenue.  The  means  by  which 
these  are  to  be  exerted,  is  a  corporation,  to  be  styled  the 
Fiscal  Corporation  of  the  United  States.  It  is  a  corpora 
tion  created  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  its 
character  of  a  national  legislature  for  the  whole  Union,  to 
perform  the  fiscal  purposes,  meet  the  fiscal  wants  and  exi 
gencies,  supply  the  fiscal  uses,  and  exert  the  fiscal  agencies 
of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States.  Such  is  its  own  de 
scription  of  itself.  Do  its  provisions  contradict  its  own 
title?  They  do  not.  It  is  true,  that  by  its  first  section  it 
provides  that  it  shall  be  established  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  but  the  amount  of  its  capital  —  the  manner  in 
which  its  stock  is  to  be  subscribed  for  and  held  —  the  per 
sons  and  bodies  corporate  and  politic  by  whom  its  stock 
may  be  held  —  the  appointment  of  its  directors,  and  their 
powers  and  duties  —  its  fundamental  articles,  especially 
that  to  establish  agencies  in  any  part  of  the  Union  —  the 
corporate  powers  and  business  of  such  agencies  —  the  pro 
hibition  of  Congress  to  establish  any  other  corporation, 
with  similar  powers,  for  twenty  years,  with  express  res 
ervation,  in  the  same  clause,  to  modify  or  create  any  bank 
for  the  District  of  Columbia  so  that  the  aggregate  capital 
shall  not  exceed  five  millions — without  enumerating  other 
features  which  are  equally  distinctive  and  characteristic  — 
clearly  show  that  it  cannot  be  regarded  as  other  than  a 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  with  powers  seemingly  more 
limited  than  have  heretofore  been  granted  by  such  an  in 
stitution.  It  operates  per  se  over  the  Union,  by  virtue  of 
the  unaided,  and,  in  rny  view,  assumed  authority  of  Con 
gress  as  a  national  legislature,  as  distinguished  from  a 
bank  created  by  Congress  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  as 
the  local  legislature  of  the  District.  Every  United  States 


TYLER'S  SECOND  BANK  VETO.      323 

Bank  heretofore  created  has  had  power  to  deal  in  bills  of 
exchange  as  well  as  local  discounts.  Both  were  trading 
privileges  conferred,  and  both  exercised  by  virtue  of  the 
aforesaid  power  of  Congress,  over  the  whole  Union.  The 
question  of  power  remains  unchanged,  without  reference 
to  the  extent  of  privilege  granted.  If  this  proposed  cor 
poration  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  local  bank  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  invested  by  Congress  with  general  powers  to 
operate  over  the  Union,  it  is  obnoxious  to  still  stronger 
objections.  It  assumes  that  Congress  may  invest  a  local 
institution  with  general  or  national  powers.  With  the 
same  propriety  that  it  may  do  this  in  regard  to  a  bank  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  it  may  as  to  a  state  bank.  Yet 
who  can  indulge  the  idea  that  this  government  can  right 
fully,  by  making  a  state  bank  its  fiscal  agent,  invest  it 
with  the  absolute  and  unqualified  powers  conferred  by  this 
bill  ?  When  I  come  to  look  to  the  details  of  the  bill,  they 
do  not  recommend  it  strongly  to  my  adoption.  A  brief 
notice  of  some  of  its  provisions  will  suffice:  — 

1st.  It  may  justify  substantially  a  system  of  discounts  of 
the  most  objectionable  character.  It  is  to  deal  in  bills 
of  exchange  drawn  in  one  state  and  payable  in  another, 
without  any  restraint.  The  bill  of  exchange  may  have  an 
unlimited  term  to  run,  and  its  renewability  is  nowhere 
guarded  against.  It  may,  in  fact,  assume  the  most  ob 
jectionable  form  of  accommodation.  It  is  not  required  to 
rest  on  any  actual,  real,  or  substantial  exchange  basis.  A 
drawer  in  one  place  becomes  the  acceptor  in  another,  and 
so  in  turn  the  acceptor  may  become  the  drawer  upon  a 
mutual  understanding.  It  may  at  the  same  time  indulge 
in  mere  local  discounts  under  the  name  of  bills  of  ex 
change.  A  bill  drawn  at  Philadelphia  on  Camden,  New 
Jersey  —  at  New  York  on  Bordentown  in  Nevy  Jersey  — 
at  Cincinnati  on  Newport,  Kentucky,  not  to  multiply  other 
examples,  might  for  any  thing  in  this  bill  to  restrain  it,  be 
come  a  mere  matter  of  local  accommodation.  Cities  thus 
relatively  situated  would  possess  advantages  over  cities 
otherwise  situated,  of  so  decided  a  character  as  most  justly 
to  excite  dissatisfaction. 

2d.  There  is  no  limit  prescribed  to  the  premium  in  the 
purchase  of  bills  of  exchange,  thereby  correcting  none  of 


324  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  evils  under  which  the  community  now  labors,  and 
operating  most  injuriously  upon  the  agricultural  states,  in 
which  the  inequalities  in  the  rates  of  exchange  are  most 
severely  felt.  Nor  are  these  the  only  consequences  :  a  re 
sumption  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  of  those  states 
would  be  liable  to  indefinite  postponement ;  for,  as  the 
operation  of  the  agencies  of  the  interior  would  chiefly  con 
sist  in  selling  bills  of  exchange,  and  the  purchases  could 
only  be  made  in  specie  or  the  notes  of  banks  paying  specie, 
the  state  banks  would  either  have  to  continue  with  their 
doors  closed.,  or  exist  at  the  mercy  of  this  national  monop 
oly  of  brokerage.  Nor  can  it  be  passed  over  without  re 
mark,  that,  whilst  the  District  of  Columbia  is  made  the  seat 
of  the  principal  bank,  its  citizens  are  excluded  from  all 
participation  in  any  benefit  it  might  afford,  by  a  positive 
prohibition  on  the  bank  from  all  discounting  within  the 
District. 

These  are  some  of  the  objections  which  prominently 
exist  against  the  details  of  the  bill ;  others  might  be  urged 
of  much  force  ;  but  it  would  be  unprofitable  to  dwell  upon 
them.  Suffice  it  to  add,  that  this  charter  is  designed  to 
continue  for  twenty  years  without  a  competitor  —  that  the 
defects  to  which  I  have  alluded,  being  founded  in  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  corporation,  are  irrevocable — and 
that  if  the  objections  be  well  founded,  it  would  be  over- 
hazardous  to  pass  the  bill  into  a  law. 

In  conclusion,  I  take  leave  most  respectfully  to  say,  that 
I  have  felt  the  most  anxious  solicitude  to  meet  the  wishes 
of  Congress  in  the  adoption  of  a  fiscal  agent  which,  avoid 
ing  all  constitutional  objections,  should  harmonize  con 
flicting  opinions.  Actuated  by  this  feeling,  I  have  been 
ready  to  yield  much,  in  a  spirit  of  conciliation,  to  the 
opinions  of  others.  And  it  is  with  great  pain  that  I  now 
feel  compelled  to  differ  from  Congress  a  second  time  in 
the  same  session.  At  the  commencement  of  this  ses 
sion,  inclined  from  choice  to  defer  to  the  legislative 
will,  I  submitted  to  Congress  the  propriety  of  adopting 
a  fiscal  agent  which,  without  violating  the  constitution, 
would  separate  the  public  money  from  the  executive  con 
trol,  perform  the  operations  of  the  treasury  without  being 
burdensome  to  the  people,  or  inconvenient,  or  expensive 


TYLER'S  SECOND  BANK  VETO.      325 

to  the  government.  It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted,  that  this 
department  of  the  government  cannot,  upon  constitutional 
grounds,  concur  with  the  legislative  department  in  this 
last  measure  proposed  to  attain  these  desirable  objects. 
Owing  to  the  brief  space  between  the  period  of  the  death 
of  my  lamented  predecessor  and  rny  own  installation  into 
office,  I  was,  in  fact,  not  left  time  to  prepare  and  submit  a 
definite  recommendation  of  my  own,  in  my  regular, mes 
sage  ;  and  since,  my  mind  has  been  wholly  occupied  in  a 
most  anxious  attempt  to  conform  my  action  to  the  legisla 
tive  will.  In  this  communication,  I  am  confined  by  the 
constitution  to  my  objections  simply  to  this  bill ;  but  the 
period  of  the  regular  session  will  soon  arrive,  when  it  will 
be  my  duty,  under  another  clause  of  the  constitution,  "  to 
give  to  the  Congress  information  of  the  state  of  the  Union, 
and  recommend  to  their  consideration  such  measures  as  I 
shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient."  And  I  most  respect 
fully  submit,  in  a  spirit  of  harmony,  whether  the  present 
differences  of  opinion  should  be  pressed  further  at  this 
time,  and  whether  the  peculiarity  of  my  situation  does  not 
entitle  me  to  a  postponement  of  this  subject  to  a  more  au 
spicious  period  for  deliberation.  The  two  houses  of  Con 
gress  have  distinguished  themselves,  at  this  extraordinary 
session,  by  the  performance  of  an  immense  mass  of  labor, 
at  a  season  very  unfavorable  both  to  the  health  and 
action ;  and  have  passed  many  laws,  which,  I  trust,  will 
prove  highly  beneficial  to  the  interests  of  the  country,  and 
fully  answer  its  just  expectations.  It  has  been  my  good 
fortune  and  pleasure  to  concur  with  them  in  all  measures, 
except  this.  And  why  should  our  difference  on  this  alone 
be  pushed  to  extremes  ?  It  is  my  anxious  desire  that  it 
should  not  be.  I,  too,  have  been  burdened  with  extraordi 
nary  labors  of  late,  and  I  sincerely  desire  time  for  deep 
and  deliberate  reflection  on  this  the  greatest  difficulty  of 
my  administration.  May  we  not  now  pause,  until  a  more 
favorable  time,  when,  with  the  most  anxious  hope  that  the 
executive  and  Congress  may  cordially  unite,  some  measure 
of  finance  may  be  deliberately  adopted,  promotive  of  the 
good  of  our  common  country  ? 

I  will  take  this  occasion  to  declare  that  the  conclusions 
to  which  I  have  brought  myself,  are  those  of  a  settled  con- 
2S 


326 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


viction,  founded,  in  my  opinion,  on  a  just  view  of  the  con 
stitution  ;  that,  in  arriving  at  it,  I  have  been  actuated  by 
no  other  motive  or  desire,  than  to  uphold  the  institutions 
of  the  country,  as  they  have  come  down  to  us  from  the 
hands  of  our  godlike  ancestors ;  and  that  I  shall  esteem 
my  efforts  to  sustain  them,  even  though  I  perish,  more 
honorable  than  to  win  the  applause  of  men  by  a  sacrifice 
of  my  duty  and  my  conscience. 


STATISTICAL    TABLES. 


Extra  Sessions  of  Congress. 

Congress  has  been  called   together  on  extraordinary  occasions 

nineteen  times  since    the   formation   of  the  government,  as  fol 
lows :  — 

September  29,  1789 1st  Monday  in  January,      1791 

March            2,1791 4th        «  October,       1791 

May               5,  1792 1st        «  November,  1792. 

May             30,  1794 1st        "  November,  1794. 

March            3,1797 1st         "  November,  1797. 

May             13,  1800 3d          "  November,  1800. 

March            3,  1803 1st         "  November,  1803. 

March          26,  1804 1st        "  November,  1804. 

April            22,  1808 1st        "  November,  1808. 

January       30,  1809 4th        "  May,             1809 

June            24,1809 4th        "  November,  1809. 

July               6,  1812 1st         «  November,  1812. 

February     27,1813 4th        "  May,            1813. 

July             26,  1813 1st         «  November,  1813. 

April            13,1814 4th         «  October,       1814. 

April            13,  1818 3d          "  November,  1818. 

May            13,  1820 2d          "  November,  1820. 


Mr.  Van  Buren's  call  was  made  in  the  spring  of  1837,  and  Con 
gress  was  convened  the  first  Monday  in  September  of  the  same  year. 
President  Harrison,  on  the  17th  of  March,  1841,  called  Congress  to 
gether  on  the  last  Monday  in  May,  1841. 


STATISTICAL    TABLES. 


327 


Governors  of  the  several  States  and  Territories^ 

With  their  Salaries,  Terms  of  Office,  and  Expiration  of  their  respective 
Terms ;  the  Number  of  Senators  and  Representatives  in  the  State  Legis 
latures,  with  their  respective  Terms. 


States. 

Governors. 

Salary. 

Gov. 
Term, 
years. 

Term  expires. 

1  = 

:f  £ 

Mg 

£i- 

gd 
|1 

Maine, 

John  Fairfield, 

1,500 

1 

Jan.  1843 

31 

1 

200 

N.  H. 

Henry  Hubbard, 

1,200 

1 

June,1843 

L2 

250 

Vt. 

Charles  Paine, 

750 

1 

Oct.  1842 

30 

233 

Mass. 

John  Davis, 

3,666§ 

1 

Jan.  1843 

40 

356 

R.  I. 

Samuel  W.  King, 

400 

1 

May,  1843 

LO 

72 

Conn. 

C.  F.  Cleavland, 

1,100 

1 

May,  1843 

21 

208 

N.  Y. 

Wm.  H.  Seward, 

4,000 

2 

Jan.  1844 

32 

4 

128 

N.  J. 

Wm.  Pennington, 

2,000 

1 

Oct.  1843 

14 

1 

50 

Penn. 

David  R.  Porter, 

4,000 

3 

Jan.  1845 

33 

3 

100 

Del. 

William  B.  Cooper, 

1,333£ 

3 

Jan.  1844 

9 

4 

21 

Md. 

Francis  Thomas, 

4,200 

3 

Jan.  1845 

21 

5 

79 

Va. 

J.  Rutherford,  Act. 

3,333J 

3 

Mar.  1842 

32 

4 

134 

N.  C. 

J.  M.  Morehead, 

2,000 

2 

Jan.  1843 

50 

^ 

120 

2 

s.  c. 

J.  P.  Richardson, 

3,500 

2 

Dec.  1842 

49 

4 

124 

a 

Ga. 

Ch.  J.  McDonald, 

4,000 

2 

Nov.  1843 

80 

1 

207 

i 

Ala. 

Benj.  Fitzpatrick, 

3,500 

2 

Dec.  1843 

30 

3 

100 

i 

Miss. 

T.  A.  Tucker, 

3,000 

2 

Jan.  1844 

SO 

4 

91 

2 

La. 

A.  B.  Roman, 

7,500 

4 

Jan.  1843 

17 

4 

50 

XJ 

Ark. 

Archibald  Yell, 

2,000 

4 

Nov.  1844 

17 

4 

54 

'J 

Tenn. 

James  C.  Jones, 

2,000 

2 

Oct.  1843 

25 

9 

75 

9 

Ken. 

Robert  P.  Letcher, 

2,500 

4 

Sept.  1844 

:*8 

4 

100 

1 

Ohio, 

Thomas  Corwin, 

1,500 

2 

Dec.  1842 

36 

•J 

72 

1 

Mich. 

John  S.  Barry, 

2,000 

2 

Jan.  1844 

IH 

9 

53 

•J 

Ind. 

Samuel  Bigger, 

1,500 

3 

Dec.  1843 

30 

3 

62 

2 

111. 

Thomas  Carlin, 

1,500 

4 

Dec.  1842 

40 

4 

91 

2 

Mo. 

Thomas  Reynolds, 

2,000 

4 

Nov.  1844 

16 

4 

49 

2 

Territo. 

Flor. 

Richard  K.  Call, 

2,500 

3 

Dec.  1844 

11 

•2 

29 

i 

Wise. 

James  D.  Doty, 

2,500 

3 

May,  1844 

13 

4 

26 

2 

Iowa, 

John  Chambers, 

2,500 

3 

July,  1844 

13 

2 

26 

1 

In  all  the  states,  except  New  Jersey,  Virginia,  and  South  Carolina, 
the  governor  is  voted  for  by  the  people ;  and,  if  no  one  has  a  ma 
jority  of  all  the  votes,  in  the  states  in  which  such  a  majority  is  re 
quired,  the  legislature  elects  to  the  office  of  governor  one  of  the 
candidates  voted  for  by  the  people. 


328 


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330 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


Statement  in  Relation  to  the  Disbursements  of  the  Revenue  of  the  United  States, 
exclusive  of  Payments  on  Account  of  Public  Debt  and  Trust  Funds,  from  <kth 
March,  1789,  to  4th  March,  1837 ;  exhibiting,  also,  the  Number  of  Officers  em 
ployed  in  the  Disbursement,  the  Amount  of  Defalcations ;  with  General  Results  ; 
arranged  in  Periods  of  Four  Years  each. 


1 

No.  of  De 
faulters 
in  each 
Year. 

Whole  No.  of  De 
faulters  in  each  Year. 

Amount  of  Defalcation  in 
each  Year. 

Aggregate 
Amount  of  De 
falcation  in 
each  Period. 

Whole  Number  em 
ployed  in  each  Year. 

Amount  of  Ex 
penditure   in 
each  Year,  ex 
clusive  of  Pub 
lic  Debt. 

Aggregate 
Amount  of  Ex- 
penditure  in  each 
Period,  exclusive 
of  Public  Debt  and 
Trust  Funds. 

r^ 
* 

w 

t? 
•II 
S| 

Civil. 

Military  and 
Naval. 

1789 
1790 
1791 
1792 

1793 
1794 
1795 
1796 
1797 
1798 
1799 
1800 
1801 
1802 
1803 
1804 

1805 
1806 
1807 
1808 
1809 
1810 
1811 
1812 
1813 
1814 
1815 
1816 
1817 
1818 
1819 
1820 
1821 
1822 
1823 
1824 
1825 
1826 
1827 
1828 
1829 
1830 
1831 
1832 

1833 
1834 
1835 
1836 

Total 

j 

1 

1 

•1 

6 

7 

vj 

9 

4 
B 
6 

4 

7 
3 
'  7 
8 

B 
10 
3 

8 
4 
5 
7 

-.7 

," 
- 
L9 
6 

3 

fi 
6 

:: 

g 

7 
10 
1Q 

8 

in 
6 

2 
1 

1 
1 
2 
7 
11 
17 
13 
14 
5 
9 
6 
7 
10 
29 
39 
39 
39 

213 
141 
170 
170 
147 
296 
247 
227 
146 
141 
90 
72 
43 
27 
22 
33 
10 
7 
4 
10 
8 
9 
10 
21 

2,516 

j 

1 

g 

1 

4 
2 
6 
13 
18 
20 
18 
16 
5 
13 
15 
13 
14 

36 
42 
46 

47 

215 
151 
173 
178 
151 
301 
254 
334 

151 

148 
102 
78 
50 
27 
28 
39 
13 
16 
11 
20 

18 
17 

20 
29 

2,760 

$  3,390.95 

12,050.56 
100.00 
18,953.40 

280.42 
13,531.58 
139,026.53 
10,275.65 
3,697.92 
3,955.76 
4,273.34 

11,128.29 
7,106,63 
9,390,76 
4,832.79 
27,411.37 
5,905.85 
29,593.99 
9,867.62 
748.58 
55,814.58 
18,893.94 
62,097.38 
5,910.24 
21,269.21 
46,281.56 
30,662.13 
17.158.11 
39,734.67 
54,381.80 
1,613.51 
21,657.41 

47,445.04 
8,453.63 
2,007.91 
18,349.01 
10,477.50 
6,506.74 

37,158.82 
24,121.30 
29,200.78 
23,303.33 

$  1,498.18 
1,280.00 

344.27 

600.00 
136.22 
7,149.25 
5,771.27 
11,362.42 
14,656.50 
5,152.41 
11,321.07 

13,898.67 
10,229.81 
71,467.58 
24,514.17 
84,495.40 
41,503.93 
44,863.22 
216,711.35 
185,230.08 
293.978.55 
360,139.18 
210,919.77 
258,821.56 
185,044.40 
267,798.80 
391,365.25 

338,715.07 
267,050.38 
228,206.91 
39,782.08 

49,543.68 
22,404.28 
82,031.66 
95,851.79 
22,135.29 
24,656.00 
6,376.07 
14,994.36 
13,558.79 
13,115.25 
20,506.82 
69,368.23 

$  4,889.13 

140 
140 
140 
433 
327 
380 
435 
457 
448 
475 
623 
594 
716 
588 
649 
536 
582 
586 
551 
665 
782 
811 
883 
942 

1,946 
2,166 
2,226 
1,968 
1,541 
1,620 
1,557 
1,428 
1,244 
1,137 
934 
895 
848 
792 
829 
826 
825 
830 
882 
882 
924 
942 
971 
1,048 

$ 
1,919,589.52 
1,877,903.68 
1,710,070.26 
3,500,546.68 
4,350,658.04 
2,521,930.40 

2,823,590.96 
4,623,223.54 
6,480,166.72 
7,411,369.97 
4,981,669.90 
3,737,079.91 
4,002,824.24 
4,452,858.91 
6,357,224.70 
6,081,109.36 
4,984,572.89 
6,504,338.85 
7,414,672.14 
5,311,082.28 
5,592,604.86 
17,829,498.70 
28,082,396.92 
30,127.686.38 
20,953,571.00 
23,373,452.58 

15,454,609.92 
13,808,673.78 
16,300,273.44 
13,134,500.57 
10,723,479.07 
9,827,643.55 
9,784,154.59 
15,330,144.71 
11,490,459.94 
13,062,316.27 
12,254,448.92 
12,505,972.05 
12,651,457.24 
13,220,499.95 
13,803,786.20 
16,514,134.69 

22,049,297.95 
18,420,467.12 
17,005,418.55 
29,655,244.46 

$3,797,493.20 

32,728.23 

12,083,205.38 

176,770.92 

21,338,351.19 

54,419.42 

17,174,432.96 

152,568.70 

23,927,245.80 

460,352.73 

36,147,857.98 

1,217,822.06 

108,537,106.88 

1,207,153.15 

58,698,057.71 

986,642.53 

45,665,421.92 

327,387.49 

49,313,197.18 

105,502.88 

56,249,878.08 

230,336.32 

87,130,428.08 

•241 

898,023.59 

4,058,549.97 

4,956,573.56 

520,062,676.36 

STATISTICAL     TABLES. 


33  J 


Exhibit  of  the  Number  of  Persons  indeoted,  ana  tne  Amount  of  Indebtedness, 
to  the  Government  on  Custom-House  Bonds,  embracing  successive  Periods 
of  Four  Years,  from  the  4th  ofMarch,H89,  to  the  4*/i  of  March,  1837;  also 
the  Amount  of  Duties  collected  during  the  same  Period ;  together  with  the 
actual  Loss  and  Ratio  of  Loss  to  the  Amount  of  Duties  collected  under  each 
Administration. 


Year. 

K 

Whole  Loss 
each  Four 
Years. 

Whole  Amount 
of  Duties  collected 
each  Four  Years. 

Ratio  of  Loss  each 
Four  Years  to  the 
Duties  collected. 

From  4th  March,  1789,  to  4th  March,  1793, 
From  4th  March,  1793,  to  4th  March,  1797, 
From  4th  March,  1797,  to  4th  March,  1801, 
From  4th  March,  1801,  to  4th  March,  1805, 
From  4th  March,  1805,  to  4th  March,  1809, 
From  4th  March,  180&,  to  4th  March,  1813. 
From  4th  March,  1813,  to  4th  March,  1817, 
From  4th  March,  1817,  to  4th  March,  1821, 
From  4th  March,  1821,  to  4th  March,  18-25, 
From  4th  March,  1825,  to  4th  March,  1829, 
From  4th  March,  1829,  to  4th  March,  1833, 
From  4th  March,  1833,  to  4th  March,  1837, 
Total,  

10 
125 

148 
150 
208 
263 
446 
488 
431 
457 
209 
1,307 

$       686.46 

12,097,850.50 

.0056 
.0033 
.0025 
.0013 
.0022 
.0084 
.009065 
.01344 
.02100 
.0256 
.002892 
.01859 

82,359.84 

24,552,164.13 

85,179.08 

33,548,222.90 

61,872.69 

46,952,705.72 

122,478.51 

54,172,790.94 

374,654.23 

44,079,932.82 

688,836.51 

75,871,937.67 

880,111.67 

65,470,053.06 

1,568,470.17 

74,655,234.54 

•2,278,558.47 

88,941,104.61 

299,798.51 

103,644,579.31 

1,305,305.45 

70,185,498.66 

4,242 

7,748,318.89 

694,172,034.86 

.0111 

Average  loss  per  head, $  1,826.57. 


Table  exhibiting  tJie  Seats  of  Government,  the  Times  of  Holding  the  Election 
of  State  OJicers,  and  the  Times  of  tJie  Meeting  of  the  Legislatures,  of  the 
several  States. 


States. 

Seats  of  Govern 
ment. 

Times  of  Holding  Elections. 

Times  of  the  Meeting  of  the 
Legislatures. 

Maine, 

Augusta, 

2(1  Monday  in  Sept. 

1st  Wednesday  in  Jan. 

N.  Hampshire, 

Concord, 

2d  Tuesday  in  March, 

1st  Wednesday  in  June. 

Vermont, 

Montpelier, 

1st  Tuesday  in  Sept. 

2d  Thursday  in  October. 

Massachusetts, 

Boston, 

2d  Monday  in  Nov. 

1st  Wednesday  in  Jan. 

Rhode  Island, 

I  Providence 
I  and  Newport. 

Gov.  and  Sen.  in  April, 
Rep.  in  April  and  Aug. 

1st  Wed.  in  May  &  June, 
last  Wed.  in  Oct.  and  Jan 

Connecticut, 

Hart.  &.  N.  Hav. 

1st  Monday  in  April, 

1st  Wednesday  in  May. 

New  York, 

Albany, 

1st  Monday  in  Nov. 

1st  Tuesday  in  January 

New  Jersey, 

Trenton, 

2d  Tuesday  in  October, 

4th  Tuesday  in  October. 

Pennsylvania, 

Harrisburg, 

2d  Tuesday  in  October, 

1st  Tuesday  in  January. 

Delaware, 

Dover, 

2d  Tuesday  in  Nov. 

1st  Tuesday  in  Jan.  bien. 

Maryland, 
Virginia, 

Annapolis, 
Richmond, 

1st  Wednesday  in  Oct. 
4th  Thursday  in  April, 

last  Monday  in  December. 
1st  Monday  in  December. 

North  Carolina, 

Raleigh, 

Commonly  in  August, 

2d  Monday  in  Nov.  bien. 

South  Carolina, 

Columbia, 

2d  Monday  in  October, 

4th  Monday  in  November. 

Georgia, 

Milledgeville, 

1st  Monday  in  October. 

1st  Monday  in  November. 

Alabama, 

Tuscaloosa, 

1st  Monday  in  August^ 

1st  Monday  in  November 

Mississippi, 

Jackson, 

1st  Mon.  &  Tues.  Nov. 

1st  Monday  in  Jan.  bien. 

Louisiana, 

New  Orleans, 

1st  Monday  in  July, 

1st  Monday  in  January. 

Arkansas, 

Little  Rock, 

1st  Monday  in  October, 

2d  Monday  in  Oct.  bien. 

Tennessee, 

Nashville, 

1st  Thursday  in  Aug. 

1st  Monday  in  Oct.  bien. 

Kentucky, 

Frankfort, 

1st  Monday  in  August, 

1st  Monday  in  December. 

Ohio, 

Columbus, 

2d  Tuesday  in  October, 

1st  Monday  in  December. 

Indiana, 

Indianapolis, 

1st  Monday  in  August, 

1st  Monday  in  December. 

Illinois, 

Springfield, 

1st  Monday  in  August, 

1st  Monday  in  Dec.  bien. 

Missouri, 

Jefferson  City, 

1st  Monday  in  August, 

1st  Monday  in  Nov.  bien. 

Michigan, 

Detroit, 

1st  Monday  in  October, 

1st  Monday  in  November. 

332 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


Dates  of  the  First  Settlement  of  the  several  Colonies. 


Virginia 1607 

New  York 1614 

Massachusetts 1620 

New  Hampshire 1623 

New  Jersey 1624 

Delaware 1627 

Maine 1630 


Maryland 1633 

Connecticut . , 1635 

Rhode  Island.... 1636 

North  Carolina 1650 

South  Carolina 1670 

Pennsylvania 1682 

Georgia 1733 


Adoption  of  the  fast  State  Constitution. 

New  Hampshire January  5 1776 

South  Carolina March  24 1776 

Virginia June  29 1776 

New  Jersey July  2 1776 

Maryland August  14 177'6 

Pennsylvania September 1776 

Delaware September 1776 

North  Carolina December 1776 

New  York April 1777 

Massachusetts March 1786 

Vermont July  4 1786 

Georgia May 1789 


Amount  of  Money  expended  in  each  State  and  Territory,  by  the 
United  States,  upon  Works  of  Internal  Improvement,  from  the 
Adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  to  the  1st  Day  of  October, 


Maine $  11,724  22 

Massachusetts 104,042  46 

Connecticut 2,069  97 

Rhode  Island 195  19 

New  York 68,138  45 

Pennsylvania 39,728  32 

Delaware 307,104  01 

Maryland 10,000  00 

Virginia 150,000  00 

North  Carolina 1,000  00 

Kentucky 90,000  00 


Tennessee $  4,200  00 

Ohio 390,159  03 

Indiana 108,123  88 

Mississippi 49,385  52 

Illinois 8,000  00 

Alabama 81,762  78 

Missouri 22,702  24 

Arkansas 44,690  00 

Michigan 48,607  95 

Florida ....799,002  01 

Total        $2,341,136  03 


Navy-Yards  in  the  United  States. 

Portsmouth,  N.  H.  Washington,  D.  C. 

Charlestown,  Mass.  Norfolk,  Va. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Pensacola,  Fa. 

Philadelphia,  Pa.  New  Orleans,  La. 


STATISTICAL    TABLES.  333 


United  States  Mint. 


Officers  of  the  Mint  at  Philadelphia. 


Salary. 


R.  M.  Patterson,  Director. $3,500 
Wm.  Findlay,  Treasurer..  2,000 
Franklin  Peale,C^/  Comer  2,000 
J.  R.  Eckfeldt,  Assayer. . .  .2,000 


J.  R.  McClintock,  Melt- 


Salary. 


er  and  Refiner 


William  Kneas,  Engraver .  1 ,500 
,  2d  Engraver.  1,500 


Officers  of  the  Branch  at  New  Orleajis,  La. 


Salary. 


J.  M.  Kennedy,  Superin.  $2,500 
Wm.  P.  Kort,  Assayer,. . .  2,000 
John  L.  Riadel,  Melt,  fy  #e/.2,000 


Salary. 


Philos  B.  Tyler,  Coiner  ..$2,000 
Hor.  C.  Cammack,  Treas.   2,000 


Officers  of  the  Branch  at  Dahlonega,  Ga. 


Salary. 


J.  J.  Singleton,  Superin.  .$2,000 
J.  W.  Farnham,  Assayer..  1,500 


Salary. 


David  M.  Mason,  Coiner . .  1,500 


Officers  of  the  Branch  at  Charlotte,  N.  C. 


Salary. 


J.  H.  Wheeler,  Superin.  .$2,000 
J.  H.  Gibbon,  Assayer 1,500 


Salary. 


John  R.  Bolton,  Coiner  ..$1,500 


Number  of  Post  Offices  on  the  1st  of  May,  1840 13,376. 

Privilege  of  Franking. 

Letters  and  packets  to  and  from  the  following  officers  of  the 
government,  are  by  law  received  and  conveyed  by  post,  free  of 
postage :  — 

The  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  Secre 
taries  of  State,  Treasury,  War,  and  Navy;  Attorney- General ; 
Postmasters- General,  and  Assistant  Postmasters- General;  Comp 
trollers,  Auditors,  Register,  and  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury  ;  Treas 
urer;  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office;  Commissioners 
of  the  Navy  Board  ;  Commissary- General ;  Inspectors- General ; 
Quartermaster-General;  Pay  master- General;  Superintendent  of 
Patent  Office ;  Speaker  and  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  ;  President  and  Secretary  of  the  Senate  ;  and  any  individual 
who  shall  have  been,  or  may  hereafter  be,  President  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  each  may  receive  newspapers  by  post,  free  of  postage. 

Each  member  of  the  Senate,  and  each  member  and  delegate  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  may  send  and  receive,  free  of  post 
age,  newspapers,  letters,  and  packets,  weighing  not  more  than  two 
ounces,  (in  case  of  excess  of  weight,  excess  alone  to  be  paid  for,) 
and  all  documents  printed  by  order  of  either  house,  from  the  period 


334  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

of  sixty  days  before  he  takes  his  seat  in  Congress,  till  the  next 
meeting  of  the  next  Congress. 

Postmasters  may  send  and  receive,  free  of  postage,  letters  and 
packets  not  exceeding  half  an  ounce  in  weight ;  and  they  may  re 
ceive  one  daily  newspaper  each,  or  what  is  equivalent  thereto. 

Printers  of  newspapers  may  send  one  paper  to  each  and  every 
other  printer  of  newspapers  within  the  United  States,  free  of  postage, 
under  such  regulations  as  the  Postmaster-General  may  provide. 


United  States  Executive  Government. 

The  fourteenth  presidential  term  of  four  years,  since  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  under  the  consti 
tution,  began  on  the  4th  of  March,  1841,  and  it  will  expire  on  the 
3d  of  March,  1845. 


William  H.  Harrison,  Ohio,  President $25,000 

John  Tyler,  Va.,     Vice- President,  and  President 

by  the  death  of  General  Harrison. 

THE  CABINET. 

The  following  are  the  principal  officers  in  tne  executive  depart 
ment  of  the  government,  who  form  the  cabinet,  and  who  hold  their 
offices  at  the  will  of  the  President :  — 

Salary. 

Samuel  L.  Southard,  New  Jersey,  acting  Vice-P resident.  ...$5,000 

Daniel  Webster,  Mass.,  Secretary  of  State 6,000 

A.  P.  Upshur,  Virginia,  Secretary  of  the  Navy 6,000 

John  C.  Spencer,  New  York,  Secretary  of  War 6,000 

Walter  Forward,  Penn.,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 6,000 

Charles  A.  WicklifFe,  Kentucky,  Postmaster- General 6,000 

Hugh  S.  Legare,  South  Carolina,  Attorney- General 4,000 


Officers  of  the  Senate. 


Secretary $3.000 

Chief  Clerk 1,800 

Executive  Clerk 1 ,500 

First  Legislative  Clerk 1,500 

Second  do 1,500 

First  Engrossing  Clerk 1,500 


Salarj. 


Second  Engrossing  Clerk .  $1 ,500 
Sergeant  at  Arms  and  ) 
Doorkeeper,  5  • 

Assistant  Doorkeeper 1,450 

Messenger 700 


Officers  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 


Salary. 

Clerk  of  the  House $3,000 

Chief  Clerk  of  Office 1 ,800 

Ten  Clerks  in  Office,  each.  1,500 
Sergeant  at  Arms 1,500 


Snlary. 


Doorkeeper 1,500 

Assistant  Doorkeeper 1,450 

Postmaster 1 ,500 


STATISTICAL    TABLES. 


335 


Librarian 


LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 

Salary.  I  Salary. 

$1,500     Assistant  Librarian $1,150 


Salaries  in  the  different  Departments  of  the  General  Government. 
DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE. 

Salary. 

Secretary $6,000 

Chief  Clerk 2,000 

Diplomatic  Bureau. 

One  Clerk 1,600 

Another 1,500 

Another 1,400 

Consular  Bureau. 

Two  Clerks,  each 1,400 

Home  Bureau. 
Two  Clerks,  each 1,400 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT. 

Salary. 

Secretary $6,000 

Chief  Clerk $2,000 

Comptrollers. 

1st  Comptroller 3,500 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 

2d  Comptroller 3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 

Auditors. 

1st  Auditor 3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 

2d  Auditor 3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 

3d  Auditor 3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 

4th  Auditor 3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 


Salary. 

Another $1,000 

Another 900 

Translator 1,600 

Distributing  Agent 1,400 

Patent  Office. 
Commissioner  of  Patents ..  3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 

Two  Examiners,  each 1 ,500 


Salary. 

5th  Auditor 3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 

Treasurer's  Office. 

Treasurer 3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 

Register's  Office. 

Register 3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 


Solicitor's  Office. 
Solicitor 3,500 

Land  Office. 
Commissioner  General. .  ..3,000 

Recorder 2,000 

Solicitor 2,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,800 

WAR  DEPARTMENT. 


Salary. 


Secretary 

Chief  Clerk 2,0)0 

Pension  Office. 

Commissioner 3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,760 

Adjutant-  General's  Office. 
Colonel  and  Adjutant- General. 
Rix  Assistant  Adjutants-Gen. 

Clerk 1,200 

Bounty  Lands. 
Principal 1,600 


Indian  Affairs. 
Commissioner 


Salary. 

,3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,600 

Paymaster- General's  Office. 

Pay  master- General 2,500 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 

Purchasing  Department. 
Com.  General  of  Purch.  ..3,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,700 

Surgeon-  General's  Office. 

Surgeon-General 2,500 

Clerk „ 1,150 


336  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


NAVY  DEPARTMENT. 

Salary.  ,  Salary. 


Secretary $6,000 

Chief  Clerk 2,000 


Navy  Commissioners. 

Three,  each  3,500 

Secretary 2,000 

Chief  Clerk 1,720 


SURVEY  OF  THE  COAST  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Salary. 

Principal $6,000 

Two  Assistants,  each 4,000 

Two  others,  each 3,000 


Salary. 


Three  others,  each $2,000 

Three  others,  each 1,500 

Another 1,000 


POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT. 

Assistant  Postmaster- General,  First  Division $2,500 

Second  Division 2,500 

Third  Division 2,500 

Chief  Clerk 2,000 

Auditor  of  the  Post-Office 3,000 

Chief  Clerk , 2,000 


Salaries  of  the  Officers  of  the  Supreme  Court. 


Salary. 

Chief  Justice $5,000 

Eight  Assoc.  Justices,  each  4,500 
Attorney- General 4,000 


Salary. 


Reporter $1,000 

Clerk 1,000 

Marshal Fees,  &c. 


The  Supreme  Court  is  held  in  the  city  of  Washington,  and  has 
one  session  annually,  commencing  on  the  2d  Monday  of  January. 


Congress. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  consists  of  a  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  and  must  assemble,  at  least,  once  every 
year,  on  the  1st  Monday  of  December,  unless  it  is  otherwise  pro 
vided  by  law. 

The  Senate  is  composed  of  two  members  from  each  state;  and  of 
course  the  regular  number  is  now  52.  They  are  chosen  by  the 
legislatures  of  the  several  states,  for  the  term  of  six  years,  one  third 
of  them  being  elected  biennially. 

The  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  is  the  President  of  the 
Senate,  in  which  body  he  has  only  a  casting  vote,  which  is  given 
in  case  of  an  equal  division  of  the  votes  of  the  Senators.  In  his 
absence,  a  President  pro  tempore  is  chosen  by  the  Senate. 

The  House  of  Representatives  is  composed  of  members  from  the 
several  states,  elected  by  the  people  for  the  term  of  two  years. 
The  Representatives  are  apportioned  among  the  different  states  ac- 


STATISTICAL    TABLES.  337 

cording  to  population;  and  the  23d,  24th,  25th,  and  26th  Con- 
grasses  have  been  elected  in  accordance  with  an  act  of  Congress  of 
1832,  one  representative  being  returned  for  every  47,700  persons, 
computed  according  to  the  rule  prescribed  by  the  constitution ; 
(five  slaves  being  computed  equivalent  to  three  free  persons.)  The 
present  regular  number  is  242  representatives,  and  3  delegates. 

Since  the  4th  of  March,  1807,  the  compensation  of  each  member 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  has  been  $8  a  day, 
during  the  period  of  his  attendance  in  Congress,  without  deduction 
in  case  of  sickness ;  and  $8  for  every  twenty  miles'  travel,  in  the 
usual  road,  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  seat  of  government. 
The  compensation  of  the  President  of  the  Senate,  p?'o  tempore,  and 
of  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  is  $>1G  a  day. 


Votes  for  President  and  Vice-President. 

The  following  table,  which  we  have  prepared  at  the  expense  of  some  labor,  will 
be  found  useful  for  reference.  It  exhibits  the  electoral  votes  given  for  the 
most  prominent  candidates  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  at  the  different  elections  since  Gen.  Washington's  retirement. 

1796  — President,  John  Adams  71,  Thomas  Jefferson  68;  Vice- 
President,  T.  Pinkney  58,  Aaron  Burr  50. 

1800  — President,  Thomas  Jefferson  73,  John  Adams  64;  Vice- 
President,  Aaron  Burr  73,  T.  Pinkney  58. 

1804  — President,  Thomas  Jefferson  162,  Charles  C.  Pinkney  14; 
Vice-President,  G.  Clinton  163,  R.  King  14. 

1808  — President,  J.  Madison  152,  C.  C.  Pinkney  45;  Vice-Pres 
ident,  G.  Clinton  118,  R.  King  47. 

1812  — President,  J.Madison  127,  De  Witt  Clinton  89;  Vice- 
President,  E.  Gerry  128,  Jared  Ingersoll  58. 

1816—  President,  J  Monroe  188,  R.  King  34;  Vice-President, 
D.  D.  Tompkins  113,  opposition  scattering. 

1820  —  President,  J.  Monroe  218,  no  opposition,  except  one  vote 
given  from  New  Hampshire  ;  Vice-President,  D.  D.  Tompkins  212, 
opposition  divided. 

1824—  Andrew  Jackson  99,  J.  Q.  Adams  84,  W.  H.  Craw 
ford  41,  H.  Clay  37.  J.  Q.  Adams  chosen  by  the  house. 

1828  —  President,  A.  Jackson  178,  J.  Q.  Adams  83;  Vice-Presi 
dent,  J.  C.  Calhoun  173,  R.  Rush  83. 

1832  — President,  A.  Jackson  219,  H.  Clay  49,  John  Floyd  11, 
Wm.  Wirt  7  ;  Vice-President,  Martin  Van  Buren  189,  John  Sar 
geant  49,  William  Wilkins  30,  Henry  Lee  11,  Levi  Ellmaker  7. 

1836  —  President,  Martin  Van  Buren  170,  W.  H.  Harrison  73,  H- 
L.  White  26,  W.  P.  Mangum  11,  Daniel  Webster  14  ;  Vice-Presi 
dent,  R.  M.  Johnson  147,  Francis  Granger  63,  scattering  84. 

1840— President,  William  Henry  Harrison  234,  Martin  Van  Bu 
ren  60  ;  Vice-President,  John  Tyler  234,  Richard  M.  Johnson  48,  J.K. 
Polk  1,  L.  W.  Tazewell  1 1 .  [Harrison  19  states  ;  Van  Buren  7  do.] 

The  electors  meet  at  the  capitals  of  the  respective  states  in  which 
29 


338 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


they  are  chosen,  on  the  second  day  of  December,  and  give  in  their 
ballots  for  President  and  Vice-President. 


Population,  Square  Miles,  fyc.  of  the  United  States. 

2,257,374  s<*.  M.  j  17,357,226  INHAB. 
Capital,  WASHINGTON,  23,346  inhab. ;  lat.  38|  N.,  long.  77  W. 


Division.  Sq.  m. 

Maine 35,000 

N.  Hampshire  .9,500 

Vermont 10,000 

Massachusetts.  .7,750 
Ruode  Island  ..1,250 

Connecticut. . .  .4,760 


Pop. 

501,793 
284,574 

291,948 
737,699 
108,830 

q0no,7Q 
,09,^78 


Settled. 

1630 
1632 
1724 
1620 
1636 
1fioo 
33 


New  York  ....46,000 

New  Jersey 7,800 

Pennsylvania.  .47,000 
Delaware 2,100 

Maryland 10,000 

Virginia 68,000 

N.  Carolina 50,000 

S.  Carolina 32,000 

Georgia 61,000 

Alabama 52,000 

Mississippi  . . .  .48,000 
Louisiana 49,000 

Tennessee 43,000 

Kentucky 40,000 

Ohio. 45,000 

Michigan 63,000 

Indiana 36,000 

Illinois 59,000 

Missouri 63JOOO 

Arkansas 55,000 

Dist.  of  Col 100 

Florida 54,000 

Wisconsin 125,000 

Iowa 100,000 

^Oregon 600,000 

^Missouri 548,000 

Indian 190,000 

Dacotah. 


New  England  States. 

Dist.  fr. 
Capital.  Pop.     Wash. 

Augusta  ......  5,314  600 

Concord  ......  4,897  450 

Montpelier  ....  3,725  500 

Boston  ......  93,383  436 

Providence.  ..23,171  410 

Hartford  .....  12,793  336 

NeW  Haven..  14,390  320 
Middle  States. 

2,428,921     1614     Albany  ......  33,721  387 

373,306     1624     Trenton  ......  4,035  167 

1,724,033    1682    Harrisburg.  .  ..5,980  100 

78,085    1627    Dover  ........  3,790  100 

Southern  States. 

469,232    1634     Annapolis  ..  ..2,792  33 

Richmond  ..  .20,153  123 

Raleigh  ......  2,244  288 

Columbia  .....  4,340  490 

Milledgeviile  .  .2,000  635 

Tuscaloosa  ...  2,000  880 


1,239,797 
753,419 
594,398 
691,392 
590,756 
375,651 
352,411 


1607 
1650 
1670 
1733 
1783 
1716 
1699 

Western  States. 
829,210     1765     Nashville. 
779,828     1775     Frankfort 

1788 

1670 

1730 

1749 

1663 

1685 


Jackson  ......  1,000  1190 

N.  Orleans..  102,193  1260 


1,519,467 
212,267 

685,866 
476,183 
383,702 

97,574 
Territories. 

43,712 

54,477 

30,945 

43,112 
1 00,000 
108,800 

94,860 


6,929 
1,917 
Columbus....  6,048 

Detroit  .......  9,102 

Indianapolis  ..2,692 
Springfield  .  .  .2,579 
Jefferson  City  1,000 


720 
565 
418 
556 
603 
850 
950 


Little  Rock  ..1,000  1000 


1665 


Washington  .23,364 
Tallahassee...  1,616 

Madison 1,712 

Burlington  ...1,000 


896 
700 
650 
1811     t  Astona  ......  ..30  2350 


*  Inhabited  by  Indians  principally, 
t  Settlement  commenced  by  John  J. 


Council  Bluff  .....  1050 


Astor,  Esq.,  1811. 


STATISTICAL    TABLES. 


339 


Imports  and  Exports  of  the  United  States, 

In  each  year  (ending  30th  September)  since  1820. 


Yean. 

1821 

1823 

1823 

1824 

1823 

1826 

1827 

1828 

1829 

1830 


Imports. 
$62,565,724 
83,241,541 
77,579,267 
80,549,007 
96,340,075 
84,074,477 
79,484,068 
88,509,824 
74,492,527 
70,876,920 


Exports. 
$64,974,382 
74,160,281 
74,099,03.) 
75,986,G57 
99,535,388 
77,595.32-2 
82,324,827 
72,264,086 
72,358,6tfl 
73,849,508 


Yews. 
1831 
1832 
1833 
1834 
1835 
1836 
1837 
1838 
1839 
1840 


Imports. 
$103,191,124 
101,029,266 
108,118,311 
126,521,332 
149,895,742 
189,980,035 
140,989,217 
113,717,404 
162,092,132 
104,305,891 


Export*. 

$81,310,583 

77,176,943 

90,140,433 

81,024,162 

121,693,557 

127,663,040 

117,419,376 

108,486,616 

121,023,416 

131,571,950 


Cities  of  the 

Portland,  Me 15$18 

Boston,  Mass 93,383 

Salem,  Mass 15,082 

Lowell,  Mass 20,796 

Providence,  R.  1 23,171 

New  London,  Ct 5,519 

Norwich,  Ct 4,200 

Hartford,  Ct 12,793 

New  Haven,  Ct 14,390 

Middle  town,  Ct 3,511 

New  York,  N.  Y 312,710 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y 36,233 

Hudson,  N.  Y 5,672 

Albany,  N.  Y 33.721 

Schenectady,  N.  Y 6,784 

Troy,  N.  Y 19,334 

Utica,  N.  Y 12,782 

Rochester,  N.  Y 20,191 

Buffalo,  N.Y 18,213 

Newark,  N.  J 17,290 

Burlington,  N.  J., 3,250 


United  States. 

Philadelphia,  Pa 228°&1 

Pittsburg,  Pa 21,115 

Lancaster,  Pa 8,417 

Chicago,  111 4,470 

Baltimore,  Md 102,313 

Annapolis,  Md 2,792 

Washington,  D.  C 23,364 

Alexandria,  D.  C 8,459 

Richmond,  Va 20,153 

Charleston,  S.  C 29,261 

Savannah,  Ga 11 ,214 

St.  Augustine,  Fa 2,459 

Tallahassee,  Fa 1,616 

Mobile,  Ala 18,741 

New  Orleans,  La 102,193 

Natchez,  Miss 4,800 

St.  Louis,  Mo 35,979 

Louisville,  Ky 21,210 

Nashville,  Tenn 6,929 

Cincinnati,  0 46,338 

Detroit,  Mich 9,102 


Apportionment  of  Representation. 

By  an  act  of  Congress  passed  June,  1842,  the  States  are  entitled  to 
one  Representative  for  every  70,680  inhabitants.  This  will  give  a 
total  of  223,  besides  three  Delegates  from  the  Territories.  Each  State 
is  required  to  be  divided  into  districts,  corresponding  in  number  to 
the  representatives  to  be  elected,  each  of  which  shall  choose  one. 


States.  Rep. 

Maine 7 

New  Hampshire. -.4 

Vermont 4 

Massachusetts ....  10 

Rhode  Island 2 

Connecticut 4 

New  York 34 

New  Jersey 5 

Pennsylvania  ....24 
Delaware..  ..I 


Suites.  Rep. 

Maryland 6 

Virginia 15 

North  Carolina 9 

South  Carolina 7 

Georgia 8 

Alabama 7 

Mississippi 4 

Louisiana 4 

Arkansas 1 

Tennessee  ..       ..11 


Rep. 

.10 


States. 

Kentucky 

Ohio 21 

Michigan 3 

Indiana 10 

Illinois 7 

Missouri 5 

Territories. 

Florida,    (del.) 1 

Wisconsin  "      ..  ..1 
Iowa  "          . .  1 


340  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

Supreme  Court. 

Residence.  Appointed.  Salary. 

Roger  B.  Taney, . .  Maryland, Chief  Justice 1836  $5,000 

Joseph  Story,  . . .  .Massachusetts, .  .Associate  Justice.  .  .1811  .  .4,500 

Smith  Thompson,. New  York, "  "        .  .1823.  .4,500 

John  McLean, Ohio, "  "        ..1829.  .4,500 

Henry  Baldwin,  .. Pennsylvania,  ..         "  "        ..1830.  .4,500 

John  M.  Wayne, . .  Georgia, "  "        .  .1835.  .4,500 

John  McKinley,  ..Alabama, "  »        .  .1837.  .4,500 

John  Catron, Tennessee, "  "        .  .1837.  .4,500 

Peter  Y.  Daniel,  . .  Virginia, "  «        . .  1841 . .  4,500 

Hugh  S.  Legare,  .Washington,  .  .  .Attorney- General 4,000 

Richard  Peters, . . . Philadelphia,  . .  .Reporter 1,000 

William  T.  CorroU, Washington,  . . .  Clerk 1,000 

Alexander  Hunter, Washington,  .  .  .Marshal Fees. 

The  Supreme  Court  is  held  in  Washington  on  the  second  Mon 
day  of  January,  annually. 


Circuit  Courts. 
First  Circuit. 

Presiding  Judge. 

Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and  Rhode  Island. ..Story. 

Second  Circuit. 
Vermont,  Connecticut,  and  New  York Thompson. 

TJiird  Circuit. 
New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania Baldwin. 

Fourth  Circuit. 
Delaware  and  Maryland .Taney. 

Fifth  Circuit. 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina Daniel. 

Sixth  Circuit. 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia Wayne. 

Seventh  Circuit. 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Michigan McLean, 

Eighth  Circuit. 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Missouri Catron. 

Ninth  Circuit. 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Arkansas McKinley. 

The  Circuit  Courts  are  held  in  the  several  districts  of  each  circuit, 
the  district  judge  acting  as  associate  justice. 

There  is  a  local  court  held  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 


STATISTICAL    TABLES. 


341 


District  Courts. 


District*.                 Judges.                        Attorneys.                    Marshals.                     Clerks. 

Maine,  

Ashur  Ware,... 

John  Holmes,  .... 

J.D.  Kinsman,. 

John  Mussey. 

N.  Hamp.  .. 

Matth.  Harvey,. 

Joel  Eastman,.... 

J.  W.  Kelley,.. 

C.  W.  Cutter. 

Vermont,  .. 

Samuel  Premiss, 

Charles  Davis,  .  .  . 

Wm.  Barron,.. 

Jesse  Gove. 

Mass    

Peleg  Sprague,  . 

Franklin  Dexter,. 

S.  Lincoln,  .  .  . 

F.  Bassett. 

R.  Island,  .. 

John  Pilman,... 

R.  W.Greene,  ... 

S.  Hartshorn,  . 

J.  T.  Pitman. 

Connecticut, 

A.  T.  Judson,  .. 

Charles  Chapman, 

J.B.  Eldridge,. 

C.  A.  Ingersoll. 

NT  V     $   N.D. 

A.  Conkling,... 

J.  A.  Spencer,.... 

C.  Robinson,.. 

R.  B.  Miller. 

N'Y-     S.  D. 

Samuel  A.  Belts, 

Ogden  Hoffman,  . 

S.  M.  Stilwell,. 

F.  J.  Belts. 

N.  Jersey,.. 

P.  Dickerson,  .  . 

J.  S.  Greene,  

J.  S.  Darcy,... 

R.  D.  Spencer. 

PO     (E.D.. 

J.  Hopkinson,.. 

W.  M.  Meredith,  . 

Isaac  Otis,  

F.  Hopkinson. 

ra'    |  W.D. 

Thomas  Irwin,. 

Cor.  Darragh,  .... 

H.C.  Bossier,.. 

E.  J.  Roberts. 

Delaware,.. 

Willard  Hall,... 

J.  A.  Bayard,  

D.  C.Wilson,  . 

W.A.Mendenhal. 

Maryland,.. 

Upton  S.  Heath, 

N.  Williams,  

N.  Snyder,.... 

Thomas  Spicer. 

John  Y.  Mason, 

R.  C.  Nicholas,  .  . 

E.  Christian,.. 

R.  Jeffries. 

Va-  |  WDD. 

I.S.Pennybacker 

W.  G.  Singleton,. 

James  Points. 

N.  Carolina, 

Henrv  Potter,  .  . 

W.  H.  Hay  wood,. 

Bev'ly  Daniel,. 

W.  H.  Haywood 

S.  Carolina, 

R.  B.  Gilchrist,. 

E.  McCreary,  

T.  C.  Condy,;. 

James  Jarvey. 

Georgia,.... 

John  C.  Nicoll,. 

R.  M.  Charlton,.. 

W.  J.  Davis,.. 

George  Glenn. 

Wm.  Crawford, 

George  W.  Gayle, 
Jer.  Clemens,  .... 

R.L.Crawford, 
B.  Patterson,.. 

D.  Files. 
C.  R.  Clifton. 

/  N.  D. 

S.  F.  Butterworth, 

A.K.McClung. 

MiSS.  |  g^  j)[ 

S.  J.  Gholson,  .  . 

R.  M.  Gaines,.... 

A.  Miller,  

William  Burns. 

La.  j^DD 

AbnerN.  Ogden, 

Bailie  Peyton,  
II.  Taylor,  

M.  Marigney. 
C.  N.  Garrett,. 

J.  Lessassier. 

c  W.D! 

H.  W.  McCorrv,.. 

R.  I.  Chester. 

Ten.  1  M.  D. 

B.  Brown,  

R.  J.  Melgs,./.... 

S.  B.  Marshall, 

N.  A.  McNairy. 

(E.  D. 

J.  A.  McKinney,. 

R.  M.  Woods, 

W.  C.  Mynatt. 

Kentucky,  . 

T.  B.  Monroe,.. 

P.S.Loughborough 

J.  M.McCalla,. 

J.  H.  Hanna. 

Ohio,  

H.  A.  Leavitt,.. 

Israel  Hamilton,.. 

J.  Patterson,  .. 

William  Miner. 

Indiana,  .   . 

J.  L.  Holman,.. 

C.  Cushing,  

R.  Hanna,  .... 

Henry  Hurst. 

Illinois,  ..   . 

Nathaniel  Pope, 

J.  Butterfield,  

Wm.  Prentiss, 

Wm.  H.  Brown. 

Missouri 

Rob't.  W.  Wells, 

M   Blair 

W.  H.  Russell, 

Joseph  Gamble. 

Michigan,    . 

Ross  Wilkins,.. 

George  C.  Bates,  . 

Josh.  Howard. 

Arkansas,    . 

Benj.  Johnson,  . 

Absalom  Fowler,. 

T.  W.  Newton. 

Dist.  Col.     . 

William  Cranch, 

Francis  S.  Key,  .. 

Alex.  Hunter,. 

W.  Brent. 

Presidents  of  Congress,  from  1774  to  1788. 

Prom  Elected 

Peyton  Randolph, Virginia, September     5,  1774. 

Henry  Middle  ton, South  Carolina, October        22,  1774. 

Peyton  Randolph, Virginia, May  10,  1775. 

John  Hancock, Massachusetts, May  24,  1775. 

Henry  Laurens, South  Carolina, ....  November      1,  1777. 

John  Jay, New  York, December    10,  1778. 

Samuel  Huntington,  . .  .Connecticut, September  28,  1779. 

Thomas  McKean, Delaware, July  10,  1781. 

John  Hanson, Maryland, November      5,  1781 . 

Elias  Boudinot, New  Jersey, November      4,  1782. 

Thomas  Mifflin, Pennsylvania, November      3,  3783. 

Richard  Henry  Lee,  . .  .Virginia,   November    30,  1786. 

Nathaniel  Gorham,  ...  .Massachusetts,  ...  .June  6,  1786. 

Arthur  St.  Clair, Pennsylvania, February        2,  1787. 

Cyrus  Griffin, Virginia, January        22,  1788. 


342 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


Names.                                 born.      1776. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 
Josiah  Bartlett,  N.  H.  .  .47 

William  Whipple,.  .  .Maine.  .40 
Matthew  Thornton,.  .Ireland.  62 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

John  Hancock,  ...    .Mass.  ..39 
Samuel  Adams,...    .     "     '..54 
John  Adams,  "       ..41 
Robert  T.  Paine,  ...     "       .  .45 
Elbridge  Gerry,...    .     "       ..32 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

»T  ucic     A»^e  iri 

Names.                               born.      1?70. 

James  Smith,  Ireland.  — 
George  Taylor,  "     ..60 
James  Wilson,  Scot.  .  .  .  34 
George  Ross,  Del  46 

DELAWARE. 
Caesar  Rodney,  Del  46 
George  Read,  Md  .42 
Thomas  McKean,  .  .  .  Penn.  ..42 

MARYLAND. 

Samuel  Chase,  Maryl.  .  .35 
William  Paca,  "       ..36 

Stephen  Hopkins,  ...  R.  Isl...69 
William  Ellery,  "       ..49 

CONNECTICUT. 
Roger  Sherman,  Mass.  .  .  55 
Samuel  Huntington,.Conn.  ..44 
William  Williams,  .  .     "       .  .45 
Oliver  Wolcott,  "       ..50 

NEW  YORK. 
William  Floyd,  L.  ls».  .  .42 
Philip  Livingston,  .  .  .  N.  York.  60 
Francis  Lewis,  S.Wales.63 
Lewis  Morris,  N.York.  50 

Thomas  Stone,  "       .  .36 
Charles  Carroll,  "      .  .39 

VIRGINIA. 
George  Wythe,  Vir  50 
Richard  H.  Lee,.      .  "     44 
Thomas  Jefferson,     .   "     ....33 
Benjamin  Harrison     .   "     ....  — 
Thomas  Nelson,  .      .   "    ....  38 
Francis  L.  Lee,  .  .      .  "     ...  .42 
Carter  Braxton,..      .  "     ....40 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Richard  Stockton,  .  .  .  N.  Jer.  .  .46 
John  Witherspoon,  .  .Scot.  .  .  .54 
Francis  Hopkinson,.  .Penn.  .  .39 
John  Hart,  N.  Jer.  .  .— 
Abraham  Clark,  "      .  .50 

PENNSYLVANIA. 
Robert  Morris,.  .  Eng.  .  .  .43 
Benjamin  Rush,  .  .  .  .Penn.  .  .31 
Benjamin  Franklin,.  .Mass.  T.70 
John  Morton,  Del  52 
George  Clymer,  Penn.  .  .  37 

William  Hooper,.  .  .  .Mass.  .  .34 
Joseph  Hewes,  N.  Jer.  .  .46 
John  Penn,  Vir  35 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 
Edward  Rutledge,..  .S.  Car.  .27 
Thomas  Hey  ward,  ...     "       .  .  30 
Thomas  Lynch,  "       .  .27 
Arthur  Middleton,  ...     "       .  .  33 

GEORGIA. 
Button  Gwinnett,  .  .  .  Eng.  .  .  .44 
Lyman  Hall,  Conn.  .  .45 
George  Walton,  Vir  36 

STATISTICAL    TABLES. 


343 


Settlement  of  the  Colonies. 


Virginia 1607 

New  York 1614 

Massachusetts 1620 

New  Hampshire 1623 

New  Jersey 1624 

Delaware 1627 

Maine...  ..1630 


Maryland 1633 

Connecticut 1635 

Rhode  Island 1636 

North  Carolina 1650 

South  Carolina 1670 

Pennsylvania 1682 

Georgia 1733 


Forces  supplied  to  the  Revolutionary  Army  by  each  State,  from 
1775  to  1783,  inclusive. 


New  Hampshire 12,497 

Massachusetts 67,907 

Rhode  Island 5,908 

Connecticut 31,939 

New  York 17,781 

New  Jersey 10,726 

Pennsylvania 25,678 


Delaware 2,386 

Maryland 13,912 

Virginia 26,678 

North  Carolina 7,263 

South  Carolina 6,417 

Georgia 2,679 


Total.  —  Regular  troops 231 ,761 

Militia 56,163 


Chronological  List  of  the  Cabinet  Officers  of  each  Administration. 

First  Administration ;  -  1789  to  1797  j-8  years. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON,.. Virginia, 

John  Adams, Massachusetts 


Thomas  Jefferson,  ... 
Edmund  Randolph,.. 
Timothy  Pickering,.. 
Alexander  Hamilton,. 

Oliver  Wolcott, 

Henry  Knox, 

Timothy  Pickering,.. 
James  McHenry,  .... 

Samuel  Osgood, 

Timothy  Pickering,.. 
Joseph  Habersham,.. 
Edmund  Randolph,.. 
William  Bradford,... 
Charles  Lee, 


...Virginia,  .... 
...Virginia,  .... 
...Pennsylvania 
...New  York,.., 
...Connecticut,. 
...Massachusetts, 
. .  .Pennsylvania, 
.  ..Maryland,  .... 
. .  .Massachusetts, 
...Pennsylvania,. 

...Georgia, 

...Virginia, 

...Pennsylvania,. 
...Virginia, 


..April  30,  1789.    President. 
,.. April  30,  1789.     Vice-President. 

Appointed. 
..Sept.  26,  1789.) 

Jan.      2,  1794.  }  Secretaries  of  State. 
'.'.Dec.    10,  1795.) 

..Sept.  11,  1789.  )  Secretaries  of  the 
..Feb.      3,1795.)         Treasury. 
.Sept.  12,  1789.  ) 

Jan.      2,  1795.  >  Secretaries  of  War. 
'.'.Jan.    27,  1796.  ) 
..Sept.  26,  1789.  ) 

Nov.     7,  1791.  £  Postmasters  General. 
..Feb.    25,  1795.) 
..Sept.  26,  1789.) 

Jan.    27,  1794.  >  Attorneys  General. 
..Dec.    10,  1795.) 


344 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


Second  Administration ;  - 

JOHN  ADAMS, Massachusetts, 

Thomas  Jefferson, Virginia, 

Timothy  Pickering,  ....Pennsylvania,  , 

John  Marshall, Virginia, 

Oliver  Wolcott, Connecticut,  .. 

Samuel  Dexter, Massachusetts, 

James  McHenry, Maryland,  .... 

Samuel  Dexter, Massachusetts, 

Roger  Gris wold, Connecticut, . . , 

George  Cabot, Massachusetts, 

Benjamin  Stoddert, Maryland, 

Joseph  Habersham, Georgia, 

Charles  Lee Virginia 


President. 
Vice-President. 


1797  to  1801 5  —  4  years. 

.March  4,  1797. 
.March  4,  1797. 

Appointed, 
.(cont'd  in  office.) 
.May     13,  1800. 
.(con? din  office.) 
.Dec.    31,  1800. 


Secretaries  of  State. 

Secretaries  of  the 
Treasury. 

Secretaries  of  War. 


.(cont' din  office.) 

.May     13,  1800. 

.Feb.      3,  1801 

.May      3,  1798.  )  Secretaries  of  the 

.May    21,  1798.  j  Navy. 

.(confd  in  office.)    Postmaster  General. 

.(conf  din  office.)    Attorney  General. 


Third  Administration  ;  — 1801  to  1809  5  — 8  years. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON, Virginia, March  4,  1801.    President. 

Aaron  Burr, New  York, March  4,  1801.  )  ,r      p      .,,     t 

George  Clinton, New  York, March  4,  1805.  J  Vl 

.Appointed. 

James  Madison, Virginia, March  5,  1801.     Secretary  of  State. 

Samuel  Dexter, Massachusetts,  ..(cont'd  in  office.)  )  Secretaries  of  the 

Albert  Gallatin, Pennsylvania,. .  .Jan.     26,  1802.  \         Treasury. 

Henry  Dearborn, Massachusetts,  . .  March  5,  1801.     Secretary  of  War. 

Benjamin  Stoddert, Maryland, (cont'd  in  office.)  )  Secretaries  of  the 

Robert  Smith, Maryland, Jan.    26,  1802.  \  Navy. 

Joseph  Habersham, Georgia, (contain  office.) 

Gideon  Granger, Connecticut,  ...  .Jan.    26,  1802. 

Levi  Lincoln, Massachusetts,  ..  March  5,  1801.) 

John  Breckeuridge, Kentucky, Dec.    23,  1805.  >  Attorneys  General. 

Caesar  A.  Rodney, Delaware, Jan.    20,  1607.) 

Fourth  Administration  ;  —  1809  to  1817  5  —  8  years. 

JAMES  MADISON, Virginia, March  4,  1809.     President. 

George  Clinton, N.  Y..  1S09,  (died  April  20,  J812.)  )  v.      Prpsli.1pnt, 

Elbridge  Gerry, ..Mass.,  18J3,  (died  JYov.  23, 1814.)  j  Vice-Presidents. 

Appointed. 

Robert  Smith, Maryland, March  6,  1809.) 

James  Monroe, Virginia, Nov.    25,  1811.  >  Secretaries  of  State. 

James  Monroe, Virginia, Feb.    28,  1815.) 

Albert  Gallatin, Pennsylvania, .  ..'cont'd  in  office.)  )  &       ,ta«oo  «f  the 

George  W.  Campbell,. .  .Tennessee,  .....  Feb.      9,  1814'  I  SeCr£r  ™    ° 
Alexander  J.  Dallas,  ....Pennsylvania, ...Oct.      6,  1814.)         treasury. 

William  Eustis, Massachusetts,  ..March  7,  1809.  ) 

John  Armstrong, JN'ew  York, Jan.     13,  1813.  f  cwrAtari**  r,f  w»r 

James  Monroef. Virginia,. . Sept.  27    1814.  (  Secretaries  of  War- 
William  H.  Crawford,  .  .Georgia March  2,  1815.  J 

Paul  Hamilton, South  Carolina,  .March  7,  1809.  )  ~.         -  t- 

William  Jones, Pennsylvania,..  .Jan.     12,  ]813( Secretaries  of  the 

Benj.  W.Crowninshield, Massachusetts,.. Dec.    19,  1814.) 

Gideon  Granger, Connecticut, (conCd  in  office.)  \  pAqtmf,,,tPra  rptipral 

Return  J.  Meigs, Ohio, .March  17, 1814.  \  Postmasters  General. 

Caesar  A,  Rodney, Delaware, (contfd  in  office.)  ) 

William  Pinkney, Maryland, Dec.    11,  1811.  £  Attorneys  General. 

Richard  Rush, Pennsylvania,... Feb.    10,  1814.) 

Fifth  Administration  ;  —  1817  to  1835  j  —  8  years. 

JAMES  MONROE, Virginia, March  4,  1817.  President. 

Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  . .  .New  York, March  4,  1817.  Vice-President. 

Appointed. 

John  Q.  Adams, Massachusetts,  . .  March  5,  1817.  Secretary  of  State 

William  H.  Crawford,  .  .Georgia, March  5,  1817.  Sec.  of  the  Treasury 


STATISTICAL    TABLES.  345 

Isaac  Shelby,  ...........  Kentucky,  ......  March  5,  1817.  ;  cprrptarip<»  nf  War 

John  C.  Calhoun,  .......  South  Carolina,  .Dec.    16,  1817.  j  Secreta        of  War- 

Benj.  W.  CrowninshieldjMassachusetts,  ..(con?  din  office.)  )  afPrt>tari-9  nf  thp 
Smith  Thompson,  ......  .New  York,.  .  .  .  .  .Nov.    30,  1818.  £  SeCretNaVV 

Samuel  L.  Southard,.  .  .  .New  Jersey,  .  .  .  .Dec.     9,  1823.  ) 

Sixth  Administration  ;  —  1885  to  1839;  —  4:  years. 

JOHN  GIUINCY  ADAMS,...  Massachusetts,  ..March  4,  1825.     President. 
John  C.  Calhoun,  .......  South  Carolina,.  .March  4,  1825.     Vice-President. 

Appointed. 
Henry  Clay,  ............  Kentucky,  ......  March  8,  1825.    Secretary  of  State. 

Richard  Rush,  ..........  Pennsylvania,...  March  7,  1825.    Sec.  of  the  Treasury. 

James  Barbour,  .........  Virginia,  ........  March  7,  1825.  \  ep,,,.ptn,jp<=  nf  Wir 

Peter  B.  Porter,  ........  New  York,  ......  May    20,  1828.  j  Secretaries  of  War- 

Samuel  L.  Southard  .....  New  Jersey,  .  .  ..(cont'd  in  office.)    Sec.  of  the  Navy. 

Seventh  Administration  5  —  1839  to  1837  ;  —  8  years. 

ANDKEW  JACKSO.V,  ......  Tennessee,  .....  March  4,  1829.    President. 

John  C.  Calhoun,  .......  South  Carolina,  .March  4,  1829.  )  v.      p^^enta 

Martin  Van  Buren,  .....  New  York,  ......  March  4,  1833.  |  V1 

Martin  Van  Buren,  .....  New  York  .....................  } 


John  Forsyth,  ..........  Georgia,  ......................  ) 

Samuel  D.  Ingham,  .....  Pennsylvania,  ................. 

Louis  McLane,  .........  Delaware,  ....................  I  Vwrotxri**  nf  tho 

William  J.  Duane,  ......  Pennsylvania,  .................  J         Tr™r^ 

Roger  B.  Taney,  ........  Maryland,  ....................  \ 

Levi  Woodbury,  ........  New  Hampshire,  ..............  ' 

John  H.  Eaton,  .........  Tennessee  ....................  \ 

Lewis  Cass,  ............  Michigan,  .....................  >  Secretaries  of  War. 

ew  Yor 


Benj.  F.  Butler,  (acting,)  New  York,  ....................  ) 


John  Branch,  ...........  North  Carolina 


)  Sprrpt  nrip*  nf  th« 


Levi  Woodbury,  ........  New  Hampshire,  .............. 

Mahlon  Dickerson  .......  New  Jersey,  ..................  ) 

John  McLean,  ..........  Ohio,  .........................  )  Postmasters  General, 

William  T.  Barry  .......  Kentucky,  ....................  £  [now  first  considered^ 

Amos  Kendall,  .........  Kentucky,  ........  ,  .....  ,...,.  )  as  Cabinet  officers,] 

Eighth  Administration  j—  1837  to  1841  5  —  4:  years. 

MARTIN  VAN  BUREN,.  .  .New  York,  ......  March  4,  1837.     President. 

Richard  M.  Johnson,.  .  .  .Kentucky,  ......  March  4,  1837.    Vice-President. 

Appointed. 
John  Forsyth,  ..........  Georgia,  ........  (confd  in  office.)    Secretary  of  State. 

Levi  Woodbury,  ........  New  Hampshire,  (confdin  office.)    Sec.  of  the  Treasury. 

Joel  R.  Poinsett,  ........  South  Carolina,  .  March  5,  1837.     Secretary  of  War. 

Mahlon  Dickerson,  ......  New  Jersey,  ....(cont'd  in  office.)    Sec.  of  the  Navy. 

Amos  Kendall,  .........  Kentucky,  ......  (cont'd  in  office.)  )  PnRtmastf>re,  rwpnprai 

John  M.  Niles,  ..........  Connecticut,  ..................  |  Po 

Ninth  Administration  ;  —  1841. 

WILLIAM  H.  HARRISON,.  Ohio,  ...........  March  4,  1841.    President. 

John  Tyler,  ............  Virginia,  ........  March  4,  1841  .    Vice-President 

Daniel  Webster,  ........  Massachusetts,  ............  ,  .....  Secretary  of  State. 

Thomas  Ewing,  ........  Ohio,  ...........................  Sec.  of  the  Treasury. 

John  Bell,  ..............  Tennessee,  .....................  Secretary  of  War. 

George  E.  Badger,  ......  North  Carolina,  .................  Sec.  of  the  Navy, 

Francis  Granger,  .......  New  York,  .....................  Postmaster  General. 

John  J.  Crittenden,  .....  Kentucky,  ......................  Attorney  General 


346  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


4  Record  of  Events  connected  ivith  the  History  of  the 
United  States. 

1492.  Columbus,  on  the  12th  of  October,  landed  at  San  Salvador, 
one  of  the  Bahama  Islands.     He  was  the  first  European  who  set 
foot  in  the  New  World. 

1493.  He  discovered  St.  Domingo,  Jamaica,  and  other  islands 
in  the  vicinity. 

1497.  North  America  was  discovered  by  John  Cabot  and  his  son, 
who  sailed  from  England  on  an  exploring  expedition. 

1498.  Columbus  discovered  South  America. 
1607.     Jamestown,  in  Virginia,  was  founded. 

1609.     New  York  Was  discovered  by  Henry  Hudson. 

1613.  The  Dutch  erected  a  fort  near  Albany,  and  established  a 
few  trading  houses  at  New  York,  then  New  Amsterdam,  Manhattan 
Island. 

1620.  The  Mayflower  arrived  at  Plymouth ;  her  crew  com 
menced  the  first  settlement  in  Massachusetts. 

This  year  the  Dutch  first  introduced  slaves  into  Virginia. 

1634.  A  settlement  was  made  in  Maryland  by  Lord  Baltimore. 

1635.  The  first  settlement  was  made  in  Connecticut. 

1664.  New  York,  then  New  Amsterdam,  was  surrendered  by  the 
Dutch  into  the  hands  of  the  English. 

1680.  Carolina  began  to  be  permanently  settled. 

1681.  A    settlement   was  made   in  Pennsylvania    by    William 
Penn. 

1720.  Difficulties  arose  between  the  representatives  of  the  peo 
ple  and  the  governor  of  New  England. 

1721.  Carolina  was  divided  into  North  and  South  Carolina. 
1733.     The  first  settlement  was  made  in  Georgia.     At  this  period 

the  whole  coast  between  New  Brunswick  and  Florida  became  settled 
with  colonies,  under  the  government  of  Great  Britain. 

1748.  Delegates  from  seven  of  the  colonies  met  at  Albany  to 
hold  a  conference  with  the  Indians. 

1755.  Braddock  was  defeated  by  the  Indians.  George  Wash 
ington  was  his  aid,  and  took  command  after  Braddock  and  others 
in  command  were  slain. 

1764.  The  British  Parliament  enacted  a  law  imposing  a  duty  on 
certain  articles  of  merchandise.      The  colonies  denied   the  right, 
asserting  that  they  had  domestic  governments,  which  they  alone 
supported. 

1765.  The  stamp  act  was  passed  by  Great  Britain.     This  led  to 
a  quarrel  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country. 

1770.  An  affray  took  place  between  the  British  and  Americans, 
in  King  Street,  Boston,  (now  State  Street,)  in  which  four  persons 
were  killed,  and  others  wounded. 

1773.  The  tea,  sent  from  England,  was  thrown  from  the  ships 
into  the  sea,  in  Boston  harbor. 

Soon  after,  large  bodies  of  troops  were  sent  to  subject  the  people. 


STATISTICAL    TABLES.  347 

1774.  The  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  recommended  a  Con 
tinental  Congress.     It  first  assembled  in  1775,  in  October. 

1775.  General  Gage  was    eommander-in-chief   of   the    British 
forces  in  America. 

This  year  the  militia  was  fired  at  by  the  British  at  Lexington, 
Massachusetts,  and  a  battle  followed.  A  few  months  after,  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill  took  place. 

1775.  Bills  of  credit,  or  paper  money,  were  first   authorized -by 
Congress. 

The  population  of  the  colonies  at  this  time,  about  three  mil 
lions. 

1776.  A   written    constitution   was    adopted   by    New   Hamp 
shire.     It  acknowledged  no  source  of  power  but  the  people.     This 
was  the  first  adopted  in  the  colonies. 

This  same  year,  Congress  recommended  the  colonies  generally  to 
adopt  constitutions. 

1776.  July  4,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  proclaimed 
by  order  of  Congress. 

1776.  December.     A  law   was   passed  by  the   English  Parlia 
ment,  amounting  to  a  declaration  of  war  against  the  colonies. 

1777.  September.     The  battle  of  Still  water  was  fought. 

1777.  Congress   adopted  articles  of  confederation,  which  were 
subsequently  ratified  by  the  several  states. 

1778.  The  independence  of  the  United  States   was  acknowl 
edged  by  France. 

1779.  Up  to  this  period  $150,000,000  of  paper  money  had  been 
issued  by  order  of  Congress. 

Thirty  dollars  of  paper  were  given  for  one  of  silver  :  people 
finally  refused  to  take  it. 

1781.  Cornwallis  surrendered  to  General  Washington  at  York- 
town.     The  British  naval  force  at  this  place  was  at  the  same  time 
surrendered  to  count  de  Grasse. 

1782.  Pacific    overtures   were  made    by    Great  Britain   to   the 
colonies.      John  Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  had    been    previously 
appointed,  on  the  part  of  the  colonies,  to  treat  with  Great  Britain  ; 
three  others  were  now  added  to  act  with  him.     Preliminary  articles 
were,  in  November  of  this  year,  agreed  upon  at  Paris. 

1783.  December.     A  definite   treaty  of  peace   between    Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  was  signed. 

1783.  The  patriot  army  was  dissolved.  In  November  of  this 
year,  the  British  troops  left  New  York. 

"  Independence  and  peace  did  not  immediately  produce  all  the 
advantages  which  had  been  anticipated  by  an  ardent  and  sanguine 
people.  The  evils  of  war  were  protracted  beyond  its  duration. 
Public  and  private  debts  bore  heavily  upon  the  people,  restraining 
their  enterprise,  and  demanding  all  their  resources." 

1786.  In  Massachusetts,  the  commercial  distress,  and  the  dif 
ficulty  of  effecting  exchanges  of  property,  was  so  great,  that 
an  assembly  of  two  thousand  persons  chose  Daniel  Shays  for 
their  leader,  and  demanded  that  the  collection  of  debts  should 
be  suspended,  and  that  the  legislature  should  authorize  an  emis- 


348  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

sion  of  paper  money  for  general  circulation.     They  were  dispersed 
by  the  militia. 

1787.  The  constitution  of  the  United  States  was  agreed  upon  in 
Convention,  and  was  afterwards  submitted  to  the  different  states  for 
ratification. 

1789.  March  4th  was  the  day  designed  for  the  new  government 
to  commence  operations.     It  was,  however,  prevented  until  the  30th 
of  April,  when  the  first  inauguration  of  president,  under  the  con 
stitution,  took  place. 

The  first  object  of  Congress  was  to  establish  a  revenue  sufficient 
for  the  support  of  government  and  the  discharge  of  the  debt  con 
tracted  by  the  war. 

The  departments  of  state,  of  the  treasury,  and  of  war,  were 
created.  A  national  judiciary  was  established  and  organized. 

1790.  The  government  debt  was  funded,  amounting  to  a  little 
over  $  75,000,000. 

1791.  A  duty  was  laid  on  foreign  imports,  and  a  national  bank 
recommended  and  passed. 

1791.  The  exports  amounted  to  $19,000,000,  and  the  imports  to 
$20,000,000;  the  revenue  to  $4,771,000. 

1799.  Washington  died  in  December. 

1800.  War  was  declared  against  France,  and  a  satisfactory  treaty 
concluded  the  same  year. 

1800.  The  exports  were  $94,000,000,  and  the  revenue  $12,- 
945,000. 

1803.     The  United  States  national  debt  was  $85,000,000. 

1807.  America  had  the  carrying  trade,  Great  Britain  and  France 
being  at  war. 

This  year  the  British  ship  Leopard,  on  the  coast  of  the  United 
States,  fired  into  the  United  States  frigate  Chesapeake. 

1808.  An  embargo  was  laid. 

1809.  The  embargo  was  repealed,  and  a  non-intercourse  with 
both  France  and  England  established  in  its  place. 

1811.  The   British   sloop  of  war   Little  Belt  and   the   United 
States  ship  President  had  an  encounter. 

From  1803  to  1811,  the  British  had  captured  nine  hundred  Amer 
ican  vessels. 

181 L.     The  United  States  Bank  charter  expired. 

1812.  June  18.     War  was  declared  by  the  United  States  against 
Great  Britain.      At  this   time  the   national   debt  was   reduced  to 
$45,000,000. 

1813.  Treasury  notes  were  authorized  by  Congress. 

1813.  The  naval  battle  on  Lake  Erie  was  fought,  and  the  British 
navy  on  that  lake  captured. 

1.814.  A  loan  to  the  amount  of  $20,000,000  was  authorized  by 
Congress,  and  an  issue  of  treasury  notes  to  the  amount  of  $5,- 
000,000  more. 

1814.  A  treaty  of  peace  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  was  negotiated  at  Ghent  in  December ;  was  ratified  by  the 
United  States  Senate  in  1815.     Thus  terminated  the  second  war 
with  Great  Britain. 


STATISTICAL     TABLES.  349 

18 — .     By  the  war,  the  United  States  debt  was  in 
creased        $80,000,000 

To  which  add  the  debt,  owing  in  1812,  of        * •     '.  •      45,000,000 

1815.  The  amount  of  debt  was      -  $  125,000,000 

1816.  The  tariff  was  revised,  a  national  bank  established,  and 
a  course  of  policy  entered  upon  by  the  government,  having  in  view 
the  support  of  the  government,  the  payment  of  the  interest  of  the 
national  debt,  and  its  subsequent  liquidation. 

1823.  The  national  debt  was  $91,000,000. 

1824.  The  tariff  was  again  revised. 
1828.     The  tariff  was  again  revised. 

1832.  The  tariff  was  again   revised,  and  important  alterations 
made  in  it. 

Prior  to  this  date,  the  duties  on  imports  were  payable  at  6,  8,  9, 
10,  12,  and  18  months. 

By  this  law,  the  duty  on  woollens,  and  all  sums  under  two  hun 
dred  dollars,  were  made  cash.  On  sums  over  two  hundred  dollars, 
three  and  six  months'  credit  only  was  allowed.  This  law  went  into 
operation  in  1833,  from  and  after  the  3d  of  March. 

1833.  The   removal   of   the    deposits    took    place.      Kendall's 
letter  to  the  state  banks,  dated  in  August. 

1834.  In  May,  the  money  for  the  payment  of  the  national  debt 
was  placed  in  the  United  States  Bank. 

1834.  The  law  changing  the  standard  value  of  gold  went  into 
operation  July  1. 

1834.  The  withdrawal  of  small  bills   from  circulation  was  di 
rected  in  many  of  the  states.     In  December,  1834,  the  amount  in 
New  York  was  $  3,730,902.     This  was,  by  a  law  of  the  legislature, 
ordered  withdrawn  in  nine  months. 

1835.  In  December  was  the  great  fire  in  New  York,  and  loss 
of  insurance  stock.     '34,  '35,  and  '36,  excessive  importations  of 
specie  took  place. 

1836.  The  final  withdrawal  of  the  United  States  Bank  branches 
from   the  states    took    place,   and   the   distribution   of  the   public 
revenue. 

1836.  The  specie  circular  was  issued. 

1837.  There  was  a  deficiency  of  bread  stuffs,  and  the  suspension 
of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  took  place. 

J838.  The  extension  of  duty  on  imports,  to  6,  9,  and  12  months, 
was  directed  by  government. 

1839.  The  law  of  1833,  making  the  duties  cash,  and  3  and  6 
months,  was  again  in  operation. 

Prior  to  1833,  the  credit  given  by  government  on  importations  of 
salt  was  nine  months. 

Importations  of  wine,  12  months. 

On  other  imports :  — from  the  East  Indies,  8, 10,  and  18  months. 

From  round  Cape  Horn,  8,  10,  and  18  months. 

From  the  West  Indies,  6  and  9  months. 

From  Europe,  8,  10,  and  12  months. 

30 


350 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


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352  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 

OF    THE 

SIGNERS  OF  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 


SAMUEL   ADAMS. 

THE  memories  of  few  men  will  perhaps  be  cherished, 
by  their  posterity,  with  a  more  jealous  and  grateful  admi 
ration  than  those  of  the  patriotic  individuals  who  first 
signed  the  political  independence  of  our  country.  They 
hazarded  by  the  deed  not  only  their  lands  and  possessions, 
but  their  personal  freedom  and  their  lives ;  and  when  it 
is  considered  that  most  of  them  were  in  the  vigor  of  ex 
istence,  gifted  with  considerable  fortunes,  and  with  all  the 
offices  and  emoluments  at  the  disposal  of  royalty  within 
their  reach,  the  sacrifice  which  they  risked  appears  mag 
nified,  and  their  disinterested  patriotism  more  worthy  of 
remembrance.  Although  many  of  them  can  rest  their 
sole  claim  to  lasting  distinction  upon  the  one  great  act 
with  which  they  were  adventitiously  connected,  still  their 
lives  present  a  valuable  transcript  of  the  times  in  which 
they  lived,  and  afford  examples  of  inflexible  honesty,  he 
roic  decision,  and  noble  energy  of  mind,  quite  as  inter 
esting  as  any  records  of  the  eccentricities  of  genius,  or  the 
grasping  efforts  of  ambition. 

Not  one  of  the  least  ardent  and  uncompromising  as- 
sertors  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  his  country,  was  the 
subject  of  our  present  sketch  —  SAMUEL  ADAMS.  This 
gentleman,  descended  from  a  respectable  family,  which 
emigrated  to  America  with  the  first  settlers  of  the  land, 
was  born  at  Quincy,  in  Massachusetts,  September  22d, 
1722.  In  1736,  he  became  a  member  of  Harvard  College, 
and  took  his  degree  of  master  in  1743.  On  this  latter 
occasion,  he  proposed  the  following  question,  in  which  he 
maintained  the  affirmative  :  "  Whether  it  be  lawful  to 
resist  the  supreme  magistrate,  if  the  commonwealth  cannot 
be  otherwise  preserve!." 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  353 

On  quitting  the  university,  he  commenced  the  study  of 
the  law  ;  but  soon  afterwards,  at  the  request  of  his  mother, 
became  a  clerk  in  the  counting-house  of  Thomas  Gushing, 
at  that  time  an  eminent  merchant.  The  genius  of  Adams 
was  not  suited  to  commercial  pursuits.  His  devotion  to 
politics,  and  his  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  country,  di 
verted  his  attention  from  his  own  business  concerns  ;  and 
he  retired  from  his  mercantile  connections  poorer  by  far 
than  when  he  entered  into  them.  In  1763,  when  a  com 
mittee  was  appointed  by  the  people  of  Boston  to  remon 
strate  against  the  taxation  of  the  colonies  by  the  British 
ministry,  the  instructions  of  that  committee  were  drawn 
by  Mr.  Adams,  and  gave  a  powerful  proof  of  his  ability 
and  zeal.  He  soon  became  an  influential  leader  in  the 
popular  assemblies,  and  was  bold  in  denouncing  the  op 
pressive  acts  of  the  mother  country. 

In  1765,  he  was  chosen  a  representative  to  the  General 
Court  of  the  state,  from  the  town  of  Boston.  Here  he 
soon  made  himself  conspicuous,  and  became  clerk  of  the 
legislative  body.  About  this  time,  he  was  the  author  of 
several  spirited  essays,  and  plans  of  resistance  to  the  ex 
actions  of  the  British  ministry.  He  suggested  the  first 
Congress  at  New  York,  which  was  a  step  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  Continental  Congress,  ten  years  after. 

In  1770,  two  regiments  of  troops  were  quartered  in  the 
town  of  Boston,  apparently  to  superintend  the  conduct  of 
the  inhabitants.  This  measure  roused  the  public  indig 
nation  to  the  utmost,  and  soon  gave  occasion  to  a  quarrel 
between  a  party  of  soldiers  and  citizens,  in  which  eleven 
of  the  latter  were  killed  or  wounded  by  a  guard  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Preston.  This  rencontre,  which 
is  well  known  under  the  name  of  the  "  Boston  Massacre," 
and  will  long  remain  memorable  as  the  first  instance  of 
bloodshed  between  the  British  and  Americans,  did  not 
tend  to  allay  the  excitement  caused  by  the  presence  of  the 
troops.  On  the  following  morning,  a  meeting  of  the 
citizens  was  called,  and  Samuel  Adams  first  rose  to  ad 
dress  the  assembly.  His  style  of  eloquence  was  bold  and 
impressive,  and  few  could  exercise  a  more  absolute  con 
trol  over  the  passions  of  a  multitude.  A  committee,  of 
which  he  was  one,  was  chosen  to  wait  upon  Governor 
30* 


354  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

Hutchinson,  with  a  request  that  the  troops  might  be  in 
stantly  removed.  The  governor  replied  that  the  troops 
were  not  under  his  command ;  but  Adams,  with  his  usual 
intrepidity,  would  brook  no  prevarication  or  excuse,  and 
declared  that  if  he  permitted  them  to  remain,  it  would  be 
at  his  peril.  The  governor,  alarmed  at  the  personal  dan 
ger  which  threatened  him,  finally  consented  to  the  demand, 
and  further  hostilities  were,  for  a  time,  suspended. 

The  injudicious  management  of  his  private  affairs  ren 
dered  Mr.  Adams  poor.  When  this  was  known  in  Eng 
land,  it  was  proposed  to  bribe  him,  by  the  gift  of  some 
lucrative  office.  A  suggestion  of  the  kind  being  made 
to  Governor  Hutchinson,  he  replied,  that  "  such  was  the 
obstinacy  and  inflexible  disposition  of  the  man,  that  he 
could  never  be  conciliated  by  any  office  or  gift  whatever." 
A  higher  compliment  could  not  have  been  paid  him.  The 
offer,  however,  was  made,  it  is  said,  and  rejected.  About 
the  year  1773,  Governor  Gage  renewed  the  experiment. 
Colonel  Felton  waited  upon  Mr.  Adams,  with  the  assur 
ance  of  Governor  Gage,  that  any  benefit  he  might  ask 
would  be  conferred  on  him,  on  condition  that  he  would 
forsake  the  popular  faction  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  sig 
nificant  threats  were  thrown  out  of  the  consequences 
which  might  ensue,  if  he  persisted  in  his  opposition  to  the 
measures  of  the  ministry.  The  reply  of  the  undaunted 
patriot  was  characteristic:  "Go  tell  Governor  Gage,"  said 
he,  "  that  my  peace  has  long  since  been  made  with  the 
King  of  kings ;  and  that  it  is  the  advice  of  Samuel  Adams 
to  him,  no  longer  to  insult  the  feelings  of  an  already  ex 
asperated  people." 

Under  the  irritation  produced  by  this  answer,  Governor 
Gage  issued  a  proclamation,  which  comprehended  the  fol 
lowing  language  :  "I  do  hereby,  in  his  majesty's  name, 
offer  and  promise  his  most  gracious  pardon  to  all  persons 
who  shall  forthwith  lay  down  their  arms,  and  return  to 
the  duties  of  peaceable  subjects ;  excepting  only  from  the 
benefits  of  such  pardon  SAMUEL  ADAMS  and  JOHN  HAN 
COCK,  whose  offences  are  of  too  flagitious  a  nature  to 
admit  of  any  other  consideration  but  that  of  condign 
punishment." 

Mr.  Adams  was  a  member  of  the  first  Continental  Con- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  355 

gress,  which  assembled  in  Philadelphia,  in  1774  ;  and  he 
remained  an  active  member  of  that  body  until  the  year 
1781.  During  this  period,  he  was  one  of  the  warmest 
advocates  for  the  declaration  of  American  independence. 
After  that  declaration  had  been  irrecoverably  adopted, 
and  when  the  subsequent  gloom  which  overspread  the  land 
had  depressed  the  spirits  of  the  most  ardent  advocates  of 
liberty,  the  firmness  and  enthusiasm  of  Mr.  Adams  were 
unchanged.  His  example  contributed  in  a  high  degree  to 
inspire  his  countrymen  with  a  confidence  of  their  final 
success.  The  following  encomium  upon  him  is  from  a 
work  upon  the  American  rebellion,  by  Mr.  Galloway,  pub 
lished  in  England,  in  1780  :  "  He  eats  little,  drinks  little, 
sleeps  little,  thinks  much,  and  is  most  indefatigable  in  the 
pursuit  of  his  object.  It  was  this  man,  who,  by  his  su 
perior  application,  managed  at  once  the  factions  in  Con 
gress  at  Philadelphia,  and  the  factions  of  New  England." 

In  1781,  Mr.  Adams  retired  from  Congress;  but,  having 
already  been  a  member  of  the  Convention  which  formed 
the  constitution  of  his  native  state,  he  was  placed  in  the 
Senate,  and  for  several  years  presided  over  that  body. 
In  1789,  he  was  elected  lieutenant-governor,  in  which 
office  he  continued  till  1794;  when,  upon  the  death  of 
Hancock,  he  was  chosen  governor,  and  was  annually  re- 
elected  till  1797,  when  he  retired  from  public  life.  He 
died  October  2d,  1803,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-two. 

In  his  person,  Mr.  Adams  was  only  of  the  middle  size  ; 
but  his  countenance  indicated  great  decision  of  purpose 
and  an  energetic  mind.  He  was  a  sincere  and  practical 
Christian  ;  and  the  last  production  of  his  pen  was  in  favor 
of  Christian  truth.  His  writings  were  voluminous ;  but 
as  they  chiefly  related  to  the  temporary  politics  of  the  day, 
few  of  them  remain.  He  always  manifested  a  singular 
indifference  to  pecuniary  considerations.  He  was  poor 
while  he  lived  ;  and  it  has  been  said  that,  had  not  the 
death  of  an  only  son  relieved  the  poverty  of  his  latter  days, 
Samuel  Adams  would  have  had  to  claim  a  burial  from 
private  charity,  or  at  the  public  expense. 

;         ! 


356  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


JOSIAH  JBARTLETT. 

JOSIAH  BARTLETT,  governor  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
the  first  from  that  state  who  signed  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  was  born  in  Arnesbury,  Massachusetts,  in 
1729.  Without  the  advantages  of  a  collegiate  education, 
but  possessing  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  languages,  he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  at 
the  age  of  sixteen.  After  devoting  himself  for  five  years 
to  the  acquisition  of  the  necessary  knowledge  and  expe 
rience,  he  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Kingston,  in  the  year  1750.  Here  he  soon  obtained  very 
considerable  reputation,  and  introduced  many  efficacious 
changes  in  the  treatment  of  several  diseases. 

In  the  year  1765,  Doctor  Bartlett  was  elected  to  the 
legislature  of  the  province  of  New  Hampshire,  from  the 
town  of  Kingston.  In  his  legislative  capacity,  he  was  a 
determined  opposer  of  the  mercenary  views  of  the  royal 
governor,  John  Wentworth,  who,  desiring  to  conciliate 
him  to  his  interest,  appointed  him  justice  of  the  peace. 
This,  though  a  trivial  distinction,  was  a  token  of  the 
governor's  respect  for  his  talents  and  influence.  Doctor 
Bartlett  accepted  the  appointment,  but  continued  firm  in 
his  opposition.  His  attachment  to  the  patriotic  side,  and 
the  spirit  with  which  he  resisted  the  royal  exactions,  soon 
afterwards  produced  his  dismissal  from  the  commission  of 
justice  of  the  peace,  as  also  from  a  command  which  he 
held  in  the  militia. 

In  1774,  a  Convention  was  convoked  at  Exeter,  for  the 
purpose  of  choosing  deputies  to  the  Continental  Congress, 
which  was  to  meet  at  Philadelphia.  In  this  Convention, 
Doctor  Bartlett,  and  John  Pickering,  a  lawyer  of  Ports 
mouth,  were  appointed  delegates  to  Congress ;  but  the 
former,  having  a  little  previously  lost  his  house  by  fire, 
was  obliged  to  decline  the  honor.  The  latter  gentleman 
wishing  likewise  to  be  excused,  others  were  chosen  in 
their  stead.  From  this  time  the  political  difficulties  in 
New  Hampshire  increased.  At  length  Governor  Went 
worth  found  it  expedient  to  retire  on  board  a  man-of-war 
then  lying  in  the  harbor  of  Portsmouth  ;  and  soon  after 
issued  his  proclamation,  adjourning  the  state  Assembly 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  357 

till  the  following  April.  This  act,  however,  was  disre 
garded,  and  soon  terminated  the  royal  government  in 
New  Hampshire,  after  it  had  existed  there  for  a  period  of 
ninety  years. 

In  September,  1775,  Doctor  Bartlett,  who  had  been 
elected  to  the  Continental  Congress,  took  his  seat  in  that 
body.  Here  having  largely  participated  in  an  unwearied 
devotion  to  business,  his  health  was  considerably  impaired ; 
but  in  a  second  election,  the  ensuing  year,  he  was  again 
chosen  a  delegate  to  the  same  body.  He  was  present  on 
the  memorable  occasion  of  taking  the  vote  on  the  question 
of  a  declaration  of  independence.  On  putting  the  ques 
tion,  it  was  agreed  to  begin  with  the  northernmost  colony. 
Doctor  Bartlett,  therefore,  had  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
to  vote  for,  and  the  first,  after  the  president,  to  sign  the 
Declaration  of  Independence. 

In  August,  1778,  a  new  election  taking  place,  Doctor 
Bartlett  was  again  chosen  a  delegate  to  Congress.  He 
continued  at  Philadelphia,  however,  but  a  small  part  of 
the  session  ;  and,  his  domestic  concerns  requiring  his  at 
tention,  he  resided  the  remaining  part  of  his  life  in  New 
Hampshire.  In  1779,  he  was  appointed  chief  justice 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  In  1782,  he  became  an 
associate  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  in  1788,  was 
advanced  to  the  head  of  the  bench.  Doctor  Bartlett  was 
a  member  of  the  Convention  which  adopted  the  present 
constitution  of  the  state,  and  by  his  zeal  greatly  aided 
its  ratification.  In  1789,  he  was  elected  a  senator  to 
Congress ;  but  his  age  and  infirmities  induced  him  to  de 
cline  the  honor.  In  1793,  he  was  elected  first  governor 
of  the  state,  which  office  he  filled  with  his  usual  fidelity 
and  good  sense,  until  the  infirm  state  of  his  health  obliged 
him  to  resign,  and  retire  wholly  from  public  life.  He  did 
not  remain  long,  however,  to  enjoy  the  repose  which  he 
coveted;  but  died  on  the  19th  of  May,  1795,  in  the  sixty- 
sixth  year  of  his  age. 

The  patriotism  of  this  eminent  man  was  of  a  pure  arid 
highly  disinterested  nature.  He  rose  to  distinction  un 
aided  by  family  influence  or  party  connections,  and  main 
tained  through  life  a  reputation  for  strict  integrity,  great 
penetration  of  mind,  and  considerable  abilities. 


358  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


CARTER   BRAXTON. 

CARTER  BRAXTON  was  born  in  Newington,  Virginia,  on 
the  10th  of  September,  1736.  His  father  was  a  wealthy 
planter,  and  his  mother  the  daughter  of  Robert  Carter, 
who  was  for  some  time  a  member,  and  the  president  of 
the  king's  Council. 

Carter  Braxton  was  liberally  educated  at  the  College  of 
William  and  Mary  ;  and  on  his  father's  death,  he  became 
possessed  of  a  considerable  fortune,  consisting  principally 
of  land  and  slaves.  At  the  early  age  of  nineteen,  he  re 
ceived  a  large  accession  to  his  estate  by  marriage.  But, 
having  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  wife,  he  soon  after  em 
barked  for  England,  with  a  view  of  improving  himself 
by  travel.  He  returned  to  America  in  1760,  and  the 
following  year  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  Richard  Cor- 
bin,  of  Lannerville,  by  whom  he  had  sixteen  children. 
Mr.  Braxton  did  not  study  any  profession,  but  became  a 
gentleman  planter,  and  lived  in  a  style  of  hospitality  and 
splendor  which  was  not  incommensurate  with  his  means. 
Upon  his  return  from  Europe,  he  was  called  to  a  seat  in 
the  House  of  Burgesses,  where  he  was  characterized  for 
his  patriotic  zeal  and  firmness,  in  all  the  duties  which  he 
was  called  upon  to  discharge. 

In  1775,  Mr.  Braxton  was  elected  a  delegate  to  Con 
gress.  In  that  body  he  soon  after  took  his  seat,  and 
was  present  on  the  occasion  of  signing  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  In  June,  1776,  the  Convention  of  Vir 
ginia  reduced  the  number  of  their  delegates  in  Congress, 
and,  in  consequence,  he  was  omitted.  Mr.  Braxton  was 
a  member  of  the  first  General  Assembly,  under  the  repub 
lican  constitution,  which  met  at  Williamsburg.  Here  he 
had  the  honor  of  receiving,  in  connection  with  Thomas 
Jefferson,  an  expression  of  the  public  thanks  for  the  "  dil 
igence,  ability,  and  integrity,  with  which  they  executed 
the  important  trust  reposed  in  them,  as  delegates  in  the 
General  Congress." 

In  1786,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Council  of  State, 
which  office  he  held  until  the  30th  of  March,  1791. 
AHter  an  interval  of  a  few  years,  during  which  he  occu 
pied  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Delegates,  he  was  reflected 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  359 

into  the  Executive  Council.    He  died  on  the  10th  of  Oc 
tober,  1797,  by  means  of  an  attack  of  paralysis. 

Mr.  Braxton  was  a  gentleman  of  a  polished  mind,  of 
considerable  conversational  powers,  and  respectable  tal 
ents.  His  latter  days  were  unfortunately  clouded  by  pe 
cuniary  embarrassments,  caused  by  the  miscarriage  of 
his  commercial  speculations,  and  by  several  vexatious 
lawsuits.  Of  his  numerous  family,  but  one  daughter,  it 
is  believed,  survives. 

CHARLES   CARROLL. 

CHARLES  CARROLL  was  a  descendant  of  Daniel  Carroll, 
an  Irish  gentleman,  who  emigrated  from  England  to  Amer 
ica  about  the  year  1689.  He  settled  in  the  province  of 
Maryland,  where,  a  few  years  after,  he  received  the  ap 
pointment  of  judge,  and  register  of  the  land  office,  and 
became  agent  for  Lord  Baltimore. 

Charles  Carroll,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  the  present 
sketch,  was  born  in  1702.  His  son,  Charles  Carroll,  sur- 
named  of  Carrollton,  was  born  September  8,  1737,  O.  S., 
at  Annapolis,  in  the  province  of  Maryland. 

At  the  age  of  eight  years,  he  was  sent  to  France  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  an  education.  He  was  placed  at  a 
college  of  English  Jesuits,  at  St.  Omer's,  where  he  re 
mained  for  six  years.  Afterwards,  he  staid  some  time  at 
Rheims,  whence  he  was  removed  to  the  College  of  Louis 
le  Grand.  On  leaving  college,  he  entered  upon  the  study 
of  the  civil  law,  at  Bourges  ;  from  which  place  he  returned 
to  Paris,  where  he  remained  till  1757,  in  which  year  he 
removed  to  London,  and  commenced  the  study  of  law. 
He  returned  to  America  in  1764,  an  accomplished  scholar, 
and  an  accomplished  man.  Although  he  had  lived  abroad, 
and  might  naturally  be  supposed  to  have  imbibed  a  predi 
lection  for  the  monarchical  institutions  of  Europe,  he 
entered  with  great  spirit  into  the  controversy  between 
the  colonies  and  Great  Britain,  which,  about  the  time  of 
his  arrival,  was  beginning  to  assume  a  most  serious  as 
pect. 

A  few  years  following  the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act,  the 
violent  excitement  occasioned  by  that  measure  in  a  de- 


360  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

gree  subsided  throughout  all  the  colonies.  In  this  calmer 
state  of  things  the  people  of  Maryland  participated.  But 
about  the  year  1771,  great  commotion  was  excited  in  that 
province,  in  consequence  of  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  Gov 
ernor  Eden  and  his  council,  touching  the  fees  of  the  civil 
officers  of  the  colonial  government. 

The  controversy  which  grew  out  of  this  became  ex 
ceedingly  spirited.  It  involved  the  great  principles  of 
the  revolution.  Several  writers  of  distinguished  character 
enlisted  themselves  on  different  sides  of  the  question. 
Among  these  writers,  no  one  was  more  conspicuous  than 
Mr.  Carroll..  The  natural  consequence  of  his  firmness  in 
defence  of  the  rights  of  the  people  was,  that  great  confi 
dence  was  reposed  in  him  on  their  part,  and  he  was 
looked  up  to  as  one  who  was  eminently  qualified  to  lead 
in  the  great  struggle  which  was  approaching  between  the 
colonies  and  the  parent  country. 

An  anecdote  is  related  of  Mr.  Carroll,  which  will  illus 
trate  his  influence  with  the  people  of  Maryland.  By  a 
resolution  of  the  delegates  of  Maryland,  on  the  22d  day 
of  June,  1774,  the  importation  of  tea  was  prohibited. 
Some  time  after,  however,  a  vessel  arrived  at  Annapolis, 
having  a  quantity  of  this  article  on  board.  This  becom 
ing  known,  the  people  assembled  in  great  multitudes,  to 
take  effectual  measures  to  prevent  its  being  landed.  At 
length,  the  excitement  became  so  high,  that  the  personal 
safety  of  the  captain  of  the  vessel  became  endangered. 
In  this  state  of  things,  the  friends  of  the  captain  made  ap 
plication  to  Mr.  Carroll,  to  interpose  his  influence  with 
the  people  in  his  behalf.  The  public  indignation  was  too 
great  to  be  easily  allayed.  This  Mr.  Carroll  perceived, 
and  advised  the  captain  and  his  friends,  as  the  only  prob 
able  means  of  safety  to  himself,  to  set  fire  to  the  vessel, 
and  burn  it  to  the  water's  edge.  This  alternative  was 
indeed  severe ;  but,  as  it  was  obviously  a  measure  of  ne 
cessity,  the  vessel  was  drawn  out,  her  sails  were  set,  her 
colors  unfurled,  in  which  attitude  the  fire  was  applied  to 
her,  and,  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  concourse  of 
people,  she  was  consumed.  This  atonement  was  deemed 
satisfactory,  and  the  captain  was  no  further  molested. 

In  the  early  part  of  1776,  Mr.  Carroll,  whose  distin- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  361 

guished  exertions  in  Maryland  had  become  extensively 
known,  was  appointed  by  Congress,  in  connection  with 
Dr.  Franklin  and  Samuel  Chase,  on  a  commission  to  pro 
ceed  to  Canada,  to  persuade  the  people  of  that  province 
to  relinquish  their  allegiance  to  the  crown  of  England, 
and  unite  with  the  Americans  in  their  struggle  for  inde 
pendence. 

In  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  the  commissioners  met 
with  unexpected  difficulties.  The  defeat  and  death  of 
Montgomery,  together  with  the  compulsion  which  the 
American  troops  found  it  necessary  to  exercise,  in  obtain 
ing  the  means  of  support  in  that  province,  conspired  to 
diminish  the  ardor  of  the  Canadians  in  favor  of  a  union 
with  the  colonies,  and  even,  at  length,  to  render  them  hos 
tile  to  the  measure.  To  conciliate  their  affections,  and  to 
bring  to  a  favorable  result  the  object  of  their  mission,  the 
commissioners  employed  their  utmost  ingenuity  and  influ 
ence.  They  issued  their  proclamations,  in  which  they 
assured  the  people  of  the  disposition  of  Congress  to  rem 
edy  the  temporary  evils  which  the  inhabitants  suffered  in 
consequence  of  the  presence  of  the  American  troops,  so 
soon  as  it  should  be  in  their  power  to  provide  specie,  and 
clothing,  and  provisions.  A  strong  tide,  however,  was 
now  setting  against  the  American  colonies,  the  strength  of 
which  was  much  increased  by  the  Roman  Catholic  priests, 
who,  as  a  body,  had  always  been  opposed  to  any  connection 
with  the  United  Colonies.  Despairing  of  accomplishing 
the  wishes  of  Congress,  the  commissioners  at  length  aban 
doned  the  object,  and  returned  to  Philadelphia. 

The  great  subject  of  independence  was,  at  this  time, 
undergoing  a  discussion  in  the  hall  of  Congress.  The 
Maryland  delegation,  in  that  body,  had  been  instructed  by 
their  Convention  to  refuse  their  assent  to  a  declaration  of 
independence.  On  returning  to  Maryland,  Mr.  Carroll 
resumed  his  seat  in  the  Convention,  and,  with  the  advo 
cates  of  a  declaration  of  independence,  urged  the  with 
drawal  of  the  above  instructions,  and  the  granting  of  pow 
er  to  their  delegates  to  unite  in  such  a  declaration.  The 
friends  of  the  measure  had  at  length  the  happiness,  on  the 
28th  of  June,  of  procuring  a  new  set  of  instructions,  which 
31 


362  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

secured  the  vote  of  the  important  province  of  Maryland  in 
favor  of  the  independence  of  America. 

On  the  same  day  on  which  the  great  question  was  deci 
ded  in  Congress  in  favor  of  a  declaration  of  independence, 
Mr.  Carroll  was  elected  a  delegate  to  that  body  from 
Maryland,  and  accordingly  took  his  seat  on  the  eighteenth 
of  the  same  month. 

Although  not  a  member  of  Congress  at  the  time  the 
question  of  a  declaration  of  independence  was  settled,  Mr. 
Carroll  had  the  honor  of  greatly  contributing  to  a  measure 
so  auspicious  to  the  interests  of  his  country,  by  assisting  in 
procuring  the  withdrawal  of  the  prohibiting  instructions, 
and  the  adoption  of  a  new  set,  by  which  the  Maryland 
delegates  found  themselves  authorized  to  vote  for  independ 
ence.  He  had  the  honor,  also,  of  affixing  his  signature 
to  the  Declaration  on  the  second  of  August,  at  which  time 
the  members  generally  signed  an  engrossed  copy,  which 
had  been  prepared  for  that  purpose. 

A  signature  to  the  Declaration  was  an  important  step 
for  every  individual  member  of  Congress.  It  exposed  the 
signers  of  it  to  the  confiscation  of  their  estates,  and  the 
loss  of  life,  should  the  British  arms  prove  victorious.  Few 
men  had  more  at  stake  in  respect  to  property  than  Mr. 
Carroll,  he  being  considered  the  richest  individual  in  the 
colonies.  But  wealth  was  of  secondary  value  in  his  esti 
mation,  in  comparison  with  the  rights  and  liberties  of  his 
country.  When  asked  whether  he  would  annex  his  name, 
he  replied,  "  Most  willingly,"  and,  seizing  a  pen,  instantly 
subscribed  "  to  this  record  of  glory."  "  There  go  a  few 
millions,"  said  some  one  who  watched  the  pen  as  it  traced 
the  name  of  "  Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton,"  on  the 
parchment.  Millions  would  indeed  have  gone,  for  his  for 
tune  was  princely,  had  not  success  crowned  the  American 
arms,  in  the  long-fought  contest. 

Mr.  Carroll  was  continued  a  member  of  Congress  until 
1778,  at  which  time  he  resigned  his  seat  in  that  body,  and 
devoted  himself  more  particularly  to  the  interest  of  his  na 
tive  state.  He  had  served  in  her  Convention  in  1776,  in 
the  latter  part  of  which  year  he  had  assisted  in  drafting 
her  constitution.  Soon  after,  the  new  constitution  went 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  363 

into  operation,  and  Mr.  Carroll  was  chosen  a  member  of 
the  Senate  of  Maryland.  In  1781,  he  was  reflected  to 
the  same  station,  and  in  1788,  on  the  adoption  of  the  fed 
eral  constitution,  was  chosen  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States. 

In  1791,  Mr.  Carroll  relinquished  his  seat  in  the  na 
tional  Senate,  and  was  again  called  to  the  Senate  of  his 
native  state.  This  office  he  continued  to  hold  until  1804, 
at  which  time,  the  democratic  party  was  successful  in 
electing  their  candidate,  to  the  exclusion  of  this  long-tried 
and  faithful  patriot.  At  this  time,  Mr.  Carroll  took  leave 
of  public  life,  and  sought  in  retirement  the  quiet  enjoyment 
of  his  family  circle. 

Since  the  date  of  his  retirement  from  public  office,  few 
incidents  have  occurred  in  the  life  of  this  worthy  man, 
which  demand  particular  notice.  Like  a  peaceful  stream, 
his  days  glided  along,  and  continued  to  be  lengthened  out, 
till  the  generation  of  illustrious  men,  with  whom  he  acted 
on  the  memorable  fourth  of  July,  1776,  had  all  descended 
to  the  tomb.  He  died  in  1832. 

"  These  last  thirty  years  of  his  life,"  says  a  recent  writer, 
"  have  passed  away  in  serenity  and  happiness,  almost  un 
paralleled  in  the  history  of  man.  He  has  enjoyed,  as  it 
were,  an  Indian  summer  of  existence,  a  tranquil  arid  lovely 
period,  when  the  leaves  of  the  forest  are  richly  variegated, 
but  not  yet  seared ;  when  the  parent  bird  and  the  spring 
nestling  are  o£  the  same  flock,  and  move  on  equal  wing; 
when  the  day  of  increase  and  the  day  of  the  necessity  of 
provisions  are  gone  ;  when  the  fruits  of  the  earth  are  abun 
dant,  and  the  lakes  of  the  woods  are  smooth  and  joyous  as 
if  reflecting  the  bowers  of  Eden.  Such  an  Indian  summer 
has  this  patriot  enjoyed  :  his  life  has  been  thrice,  yea,  four 
times  blessed ;  blessed  in  his  birth  and  education,  in  his 
health,  in  his  basket,  and  in  his  store ;  blessed  in  his  nu 
merous  and  honorable  progeny,  which  extend  to  several 
generations  ;  blessed  in  the  protracted  measure  of  his  days, 
in  which  have  been  crowded  the  events  of  many  centuries; 
and  blessed  in  the  wonderful  prosperity  of  his  country, 
whose  population  has  since  his  birth  increased  from  nine 
hundred  thousand  souls  to  more  than  twelve  millions,  en 
joying  the  blessings  of  freemen.  It  is,  perhaps,  from  the 


364  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

fact,  that  the  world  think  it  quite  enough  for  one  mortal 
that  he  should  be  virtuous,  prosperous,  and  enjoy  a  green 
old  age,  that  an  analysis  of  his  intellectual  powers,  or  a 
description  of  his  rare  attainments,  has  seldom  been  at 
tempted  ;  but  talents  and  attainments  he  had,  that  made 
him  one  of  the  most  successful  of  the  business  men  of  the 
momentous  period  in  which  he  lived  —  a  period  when  that 
which  the  head  conceived  the  hands  were  ready  to  execute. 
There  were  too  few  at  that  time,  and  those  too  zealous,  to 
make  the  proper  division  of  labor.  The  senator  armed  for 
the  field,  and  the  soldier  met  with  the  Conscript  Fathers." 

"  Mr.  Carroll  was  an  orator.  His  eloquence  was  of  the 
smooth,  gentle,  satisfactory  kind,  delighting  all,  and  con 
vincing  many.  It  is  not  pretended  that,  like  John  Adams, 
he  came  down  upon  his  hearers  as  with  the  thunder-blast 
from  Sinai,  raising  the  tables  of  independence  on  high, 
and  threatening,  in  his  wrath,  to  break  them  if  they  were 
not  received  by  the  people ;  nor  that,  like  Dickinson,  he 
exhausted  rhetoric  and  metaphysics  to  gain  his  end,  and 
was  forever  striving  to  be  heard ;  but  Carroll  came  to  his 
subject  well  informed,  thoroughly  imbued  with  its  spirit, 
and  with  happy  conceptions  and  graceful  delivery,  and 
with  chaste  and  delicate  language,  he,  without  violence, 
conquered  the  understandings,  and  led  captive  the  senses, 
of  his  hearers.  All  was  natural,  yet  sweet  and  polished  as 
education  could  make  it.  He  never  seemed  ^atigued  with 
his  labors,  nor  faint  with  his  exertions.  His  blood  and 
judgment  were  so  well  commingled,  that  his  highest  efforts 
were  as  easy  and  natural  as  if  he  had  been  engaged  in  the 
course  of  ordinary  duties.  This  happy  faculty  still  contin 
ues  with  the  patriarch,  for  his  conversation  has  now  that 
elegant  vivacity  and  delicacy  that  characterized  the  sage 
Nestor  of  elder  times,  whose  words  fell  like  vernal  snows, 
as  he  spake  to  the  people. 

"  His  serenity,  and  in  no  small  degree,  perhaps,  his 
longevity,  may  be  owing  to  the  permanency  of  his  princi 
ples.  In  early  life  he  founded  his  political  creed  on  the 
rights  of  man,  and  reposing  his  faith  in  the  religion  of  his 
fathers,  he  has  felt  none  of  those  vacillations  and  changes 
so  common  in  times  of  political  or  religious  agitations.  It 
were  good  for  the  nation  that  he  should  long  continue 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  365 

among  us,  for  in  his  presence  all  party  feuds  are  hushed ; 
and  the  demagogue,  accustomed  to  vociferate  elsewhere, 
in  his  vanity  to  be  heard,  talks  not  above  his  breath  when 
the  aged  patriot  is  near.  In  a  republic  where  titles  are  not 
known,  we  ought  to  make  a  peerage  of  talents,  virtues, 
patriotism,  and  age,  that  every  youth  may  learn  to  admire, 
respect,  and  imitate  the  wise  and  good.  With  all  our 
wishes  for  his  stay  here  on  earth,  the  patriarch  must  soon 
be  gathered  to  his  fathers,  and  his  name  given  to  the  his 
torian  and  the  poet.  The  bard  shall  then  strike  his  harp 
and  sing,  '  in  strains  not  light  nor  melancholy/  but  with 
admiration,  touched  with  religious  hope. 

'  Full  of  years  and  honors,  through  the  gate 
Of  painless  slumber  he  retired. 
And  as  a  river  pure 

Meets  in  its  course  a  subterraneous  void, 
Then  dips  his  silver  head,  again  to  rise, 
And  rising  glides  through  fields  and  meadows  new, 
So  hath  Oileus  in  those  happy  climes, 
Where  joys  ne'er  fade,  nor  the  soul's  powers  decay, 
But  youth  and  spring  eternal  bloom.'  " 

The  name  of  Carroll  is  the  only  one  on  the  Declaration 
to  which  the  residence  of  the  signer  is  appended.  The 
reason  why  it  was  done  in  this  case,  is  understood  to  be 
as  follows: —  The  patriots  who  signed  that  document,  did 
it,  almost  literally,  with  ropes  about  their  necks,  it  being 
generally  supposed  that  they  would,  if  unsuccessful,  be 
hung  as  rebels.  When  Carroll  had  signed  his  name, 
some  one  at  his  elbow  remarked,  "You'll  get  clear  —  there 
are  several  of  that  name  —  they  will  not  know  which  to 
take."  "  Not  so,"  replied  he,  arid  immediately  added, 
"  of  Carroll  ton." 

In  1827,  the  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  National  Gazette 
published  a  biography  of  Mr.  Carroll,  which  appeared  in 
the  American  Quarterly  Review.  He  records  the  follow 
ing  fact :  — 

In  1825,  one  of  Mr.  Carroll's  granddaughters  was 
married  to  the  marquis  of  Wellesley,  then  viceroy  of 
Ireland  ;  and  it  is  a  singular  circumstance  that,  one  hun 
dred  and  forty  years  after  the  first  emigration  of  her  an 
cestors  to  America,  this  lady  should  become  vice-queen  of 
31* 


366  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  country  from  which  they  fled,  at  the  summit  of  a 
system  which  a  more  immediate  ancestor  had  risked  every 
thing  to  destroy ;  or,  in  the  energetic  and  poetical  lan 
guage  of  Bishop  England,  "  that  in  the  land  from  which 
his  father's  father  fled  in  fear,  his  daughter's  daughter  now 
reigns  as  queen." 

From  the  same  publication,  it  appears  that  Mr.  Carroll, 
some  years  before  our  revolutionary  war,  wrote  to  a  mem 
ber  of  the  British  Parliament  as  follows  :  — 

"  Your  thousands  of  soldiers  may  come,  but  they  will 
be  masters  of  the  spot  only  on  which  they  encamp.  They 
will  find  nought  but  enemies  before  and  around  them. 
If  we  are  beaten  on  the  plains,  we  will  retreat  to  the 
mountains  and  defy  them.  Our  resources  will  increase 
with  our  difficulties.  Necessity  will  force  us  to  exertion  ; 
until,  tired  of  combating  in  vain  against  a  spirit  which 
victory  cannot  subdue,  your  armies  will  evacuate  our  soil, 
and  your  country  retire,  an  immense  loser,  from  the  con 
test.  No,  sir ;  we  have  made  up  our  minds  to  abide  the 
issue  of  the  approaching  struggle ;  and  though  much  blood 
may  be  spilled,  we  have  no  doubt  of  our  ultimate  success." 

His  whole  career,  says  Mr.  Walsh,  public  and  private, 
suited  the  dignity  of  his  distinctive  appellation  —  the  Sur 
viving  Signer.  He  was  always  a  model  of  regularity  in 
conduct  and  sedateness  in  judgment.  In  natural  sagacity, 
in  refinement  of  tastes  and  pleasures,  in  unaffected,  habit 
ual  courtesy,  in  vigilant  observation,  vivacity  of  spirit  and 
tone,  susceptibility  of  domestic  and  social  happiness  in  the 
best  forms,  he  had  but  few  equals  during  the  greater  part 
of  his  bright  and  long  existence.  The  mind  of  Mr.  Car 
roll  was  highly  cultivated ;  he  fully  improved  the  advan 
tages  of  an  excellent  classical  education  and  extensive  for 
eign  travel ;  he  had  read  much  of  ancient  and  modern 
literature,  and  gave  the  keenest  attention  to  contemporary 
events  and  characters.  His  patriotism  never  lost  its  earn 
estness  and  elevation.  It  was  our  good  fortune,  in  our 
youth,  to  pass  months  at  a  time  under  his  roof,  and  we 
never  left  his  mansion  without  additional  impressions  of 
peculiar  respect  for  the  singular  felicity  of  temperament 
and  perfection  of  self-discipline,  from  which  it  resulted 
that  no  one,  neither  kindred,  domestic,  nor  guest,  could 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  367 

feel  his  presence  and  society  as  in  the  least  oppressive  or 
irksome  —  exact  and  systematic,  opulent  and  honored, 
enlightened  and  heedful  though  he  was. 

The  announcement  of  the  death  of  Charles  Carroll 
was  made  as  follows  in  one  of  the  Baltimore  papers  of 
the  date  :  — 

"  It  becomes  our  painful  duty  to  announce  to  our  read 
ers  the  demise  of  the  last  surviving  signer  of  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence.  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton  is 
no  more !  He  expired  at  four  o'clock  yesterday  morning. 
Thus,  one  after  another,  the  luminaries  of  the  revolution 
are  leaving  this  stage  of  action,  and  soon  the  whole  of  the 
bright  galaxy,  which  in  those  dark  days  adorned  the  land, 
must  be  numbered  with  the  silent  dead,  and  live  only  in 
the  grateful  recollection  of  those  for  whom  they  have  pur 
chased  liberty,  independence,  prosperity,  and  happiness. 
Here  and  there  a  solitary  star  remains,  to  attract  the  eye 
and  warm  the  hearts  of  those  who  love  and  admire  them 
for  their  virtues  and  their  services.  Mr.  Carroll  had 
reached  a  good  old  age,  and  had  the  happiness  to  see 
this  young  republic,  which  he  had  performed  so  prominent 
a  part  in  aiding  to  establish,  emerge  from  obscurity,  and 
take  a  station  among  the  most  powerful  of  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  He  had  lived  to  see  her  pass  triumphantly 
through  a  second  war  with  the  mistress  of  the  seas,  as 
England  has  been  long  demominated,  in  which  the  proud 
Lion  was  a  second  time  compelled  to  cower  beneath  the 
power  of  the  Eagle  ;  to  see  her  banner  waving  over  every 
sea,  and  her  prowess  acknowledged  and  feared  in  every 
land.  He  has  lived  to  witness  the  anomaly  in  the  records 
of  the  world,  of  a  powerful  people  almost  entirely  clear  of 
debt,  and  without  any  dangerous  or  distracting  controversy 
subsisting  with  any  foreign  power,  which  can  be  thought 
likely  to  require  the  expenditure  of  money  for  the  main 
tenance  of  her  rights.  He  saw  the  people  for  whom  he 
had  toiled,  and  pledged  his  life,  his  fortune,  and  his  sa 
cred  honor,  united,  prosperous,  and  happy,  and  lived  to 
see  a  worthy  fellow-citizen  elected  a  second  time  to  the 
chief  magistracy  of  the  nation  by  an  almost  unanimous 
voice,  embracing  a  large  portion  of  every  section  of  the 
Union  ;  thus  evincing  that  there  is  no  reason  to  appre- 


368  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

hend  any  danger  of  a  severance  of  this  happy  Union.  In 
casting  a  retrospective  glance  over  the  path  he  had  trod 
den  in  the  course  of  his  eventful  life,  how  it  warmed  and 
animated  his  heart !  It  was  a  subject  upon  which  he  al 
ways  delighted  to  dwell ;  and  whenever  it  was  touched 
upon,  it  caused  him  almost  to  forget  his  age,  arid  to  put 
on  the  vigor  and  fire  of  youth. 

"  In  his  own  immediate  neighborhood,  in  the  place  of 
a  small  and  obscure  village,  he  lived  to  see  a  large  and 
populous  city  spring  up,  and  assume  a  station  the  third 
only  in  the  Union  in  point  of  extent,  wealth,  and  com 
mercial  enterprise,  and  inhabited  by  a  virtuous  and  gal 
lant  people,  partaking  of  his  feelings,  and  following  his 
bright  and  glorious  example.  What  more  could  a  mortal 
desire  to  witness  1  The  cup  of  happiness  with  him  was 
full  to  overflowing.  He  has  fought  a  good  fight,  and  his 
triumph  has  been  complete.  He  has  now  run  his  race,  and 
his  remains  repose  in  silence,  and  his  grateful  countrymen 
are  showering  their  benedictions  upon  him.  Peace  to  his 
ashes !  —  May  his  brilliant  example  long  serve  to  animate 
the  hearts  and  nerve  the  arms  of  his  countrymen." 


SAMUEL   CHASE. 

SAMUEL  CHASE  was  born  in  Somerset  county,  Mary 
land,  in  1741.  He  was  educated  by  his  father,  a  distin 
guished  clergyman,  who  had  emigrated  to  America,  and 
whose  attainments  in  classical  literature  were  of  a  very 
superior  order.  Under  such  instruction,  the  son  soon 
outstripped  most  of  his  compeers,  and  at  the  age  of  eigh 
teen  was  sent  to  Annapolis  to  commence  the  study  of  the 
law.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  that  town  at  the  age 
of  twenty,  and  soon  after  connected  himself  in  marriage 
with  a  lady,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 

The  political  career  of  Mr.  Chase  may  be  dated  from 
the  year  1774,  when  he  was  sent  to  the  Congress  of  Phil 
adelphia,  as  a  delegate  from  his  native  state.  This  sta 
tion  he  continued  to  occupy  for  several  years.  In  1776, 
he  was  appointed,  in  conjunction  with  Benjamin  Franklin 
and  Charles  Carroll,  to  proceed  to  Canada  for  the  pur 
pose  of  inducing  the  inhabitants  to  cancel  their  allegiance 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  369 

to  Great  Britain,  and  join  the  American  confederacy. 
Although  the  expedition  proved  unsuccessful,  the  zeal 
and  ability  of  the  commissioners  were  never,  for  a  mo 
ment,  brought  into  question. 

On  his  return  to  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Chase  found  the 
question  of  independence  in  agitation  in  Congress.  The 
situation  of  the  Maryland  delegation,  at  this  juncture,  was 
embarrassing.  They  had  been  expressly  prohibited,  by 
their  constituents,  from  voting  in  favor  of  a  declaration  of 
independence;  and  as  they  had  accepted  their  appointments 
under  this  restriction,  they  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  give 
their  active  support  to  such  a  measure.  It  was  not  compat 
ible  with  the  spirit  of  Mr.  Chase,  quietly  to  endure  such  a 
situation.  He  left  Congress,  and  proceeded  to  Maryland. 
He  traversed  the  province,  and,  assisted  by  his  colleagues, 
awakened  the  people  to  a  sense  of  patriotism  and  liberty, 
and  persuaded  them  to  send  addresses  to  the  Convention, 
then  sitting  at  Annapolis,  in  favor  of  independence.  Such 
an  expression  of  popular  feeling  the  Convention  could  not 
resist,  and  at  length  gave  a  unanimous  vote  for  the  meas 
ure  of  independence.  With  this  vote,  Mr.  Chase  hastened 
to  Philadelphia,  where  he  arrived  in  time  to  take  his  seat 
on  Monday  morning,  having  rode,  on  the  two  previous 
days,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  On  the  day  of  his  arri 
val,  the  resolution  to  issue  a  declaration  of  independence 
came  before  the  house,  and  he  had  the  privilege  of  uniting 
with  a  majority  in  favor  of  it.  Mr.  Chase  continued  a  bold, 
eloquent,  and  efficient  member  of  Congress  throughout 
the  war,  when  he  returned  to  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

In  1783,  Mr.  Chase  visited  England,  on  behalf  of  the 
state  of  Maryland,  for  the  purpose  of  reclaiming  a  large 
amount  of  property,  which,  while  a  colony,  she  had  intrust 
ed  to  the  Bank  of  England.  He  continued  in  England 
about  a  year,  during  which  time  he  became  acquainted 
with  many  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  that  country, 
among  whom  were  Burke,  Pitt,  and  Fox.  While  in  Eng 
land,  he  was  married  to  his  second  wife,  the  daughter  of 
Dr.  Samuel  Giles,  of  Kentbury,  with  whom,  in  1784,  he 
returned  to  America.  In  the  year  1786,  at  the  invitation 
of  his  friend,  Colonel  Howard,  who  had  generously  pre 
sented  him  with  a  portion  of  land  in  Baltimore,  he  removed 


370  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

to  that  city.  On  this  occasion,  the  corporation  of  Annap 
olis  tendered  to  Mr.  Chase  the  expressions  of  their  respect 
in  a  flattering  address,  to  which  he  made  a  suitable  reply. 
In  1791,  he  accepted  the  appointment  of  chief  justice  of 
the  General  Court  of  Maryland. 

In  the  year  1794,  a  circumstance  took  place  in  Balti 
more,  in  which  Judge  Chase  evinced  considerable  firmness 
and  energy  of  character.  Two  men  had  been  tarred  and 
feathered  in  the  public  streets,  on  an  occasion  of  some 
popular  excitement.  The  investigation  of  the  case  was 
undertaken  by  him,  in  the  issue  of  which  he  caused  two 
respectable  and  influential  individuals  to  be  arrested  as 
ringleaders.  On  being  arraigned  before  the  court,  they 
refused  to  give  bail.  Upon  this  the  judge  informed  them 
that  they  must  go  to  jail.  Accordingly,  he  directed  the 
sheriff  to  take  one  of  the  prisoners  to  jail.  This  the  sheriff 
declared  he  could  not  do,  as  he  apprehended  resistance. 
"  Summon  the  posse  comitatus,  then,"  exclaimed  the  judge. 
"  Sir,"  said  the  sheriff,  "  no  one  will  serve."  "  Summon 
me,  then,"  said  Judge  Chase,  in  a  tone  of  lofty  indignation  ; 
"  I  will  be  the  posse  comitatus,  and  I  will  take  him  to  jail." 

In  1796,  Judge  Chase  was  appointed  by  Washington  an 
associate  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
—  a  station  which  he  occupied  for  fifteen  years,  and  which 
he  supported  with  great  dignity  and  ability.  It  was  his  ill 
fortune,  however,  to  have  his  latter  days  imbittered  by  an 
impeachment  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  at  Wash 
ington.  This  impeachment  originated  in  political  animos 
ities,  from  the  offence  which  his  conduct  in  the  Circuit 
Court  had  given  to  the  democratic  party.  The  articles  of 
impeachment  originally  reported  were  six  in  number,  to 
which  two  others  were  afterwards  added.  On  five  of  the 
charges  a  majority  of  the  Senate  acquitted  him.  On  the 
others  a  majority  was  against  him ;  but  as  a  vote  of  two 
thirds  is  necessary  to  conviction,  he  was  acquitted  of  the 
whole.  This  celebrated  trial  commenced  on  the  second 
of  January,  and  ended  on  the  fifth  of  March,  1805. 

Judge  Chase  continued  to  exercise  his  judicial  functions 
till  1811,  when  his  health  failed  him,  and  he  expired  on 
the  nineteenth  of  June  in  that  year.  In  his  dying  hour,  he 
appeared  calm  and  resigned.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  371 

Christianity,  and  partook  of  the  sacrament  but  a  short  time 
before  his  death,  declaring  himself  to  be  in  peace  with  all 
mankind.  In  his  will,  he  directed  that  no  mourning  should 
be  worn  for  him,  and  requested  that  only  his  name,  with 
the  dates  of  his  birth  and  death,  should  be  inscribed  upon 
his  tomb.  He  was  a  sincere  patriot,  and,  though  of  an 
irascible  temperament,  was  a  man  of  high  intellect  and 
undaunted  courage. 


ABRAHAM   CLARK. 

THE  quiet  and  unobtrusive  course  of  life,  which  Mr. 
CLARK  pursued,  furnishes  few  materials  for  biography. 
He  was  born  in  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  on  the  15th 
of  February,  1726.  He  was  an  only  child,  and  his  early 
education,  although  confined  to  English  branches  of  study, 
was  respectable.  For  the  mathematics  and  the  civil  law, 
he  discovered  an  early  predilection.  He  was  bred  a  farm 
er  ;  but,  not  being  of  a  robust  constitution,  he  turned  his 
attention  to  surveying,  conveyancing,  and  imparting  legal 
advice.  As  he  performed  the  latter  service  gratuitously, 
he  was  called  "  the  poor  man's  counsellor." 

Mr.  Clark's  habits  of  life  and  generosity  of  character 
soon  rendered  him  popular,  and,  on  the  commencement  of 
the  troubles  with  the  mother  country,  he  was  chosen  one 
of  the  New  Jersey  delegation  to  the  Continental  Congress. 
Of  this  body  he  was  a  member  for  a  considerable  period, 
and  was  conspicuous  for  his  sound  patriotism  and  his 
unwavering  decision.  A  few  days  after  he  took  his  seat 
for  the  first  time,  as  a  member  of  Congress,  he  was  called 
upon  to  vote  for,  or  against,  the  proclamation  of  independ 
ence.  But  he  was  at  no  loss  on  which  side  to  throw 
his  influence,  and  readily  signed  the  Declaration,  which 
placed  in  peril  his  fortune  and  individual  safety. 

Mr.  Clark  frequently  after  this  time  represented  New 
Jersey  in  the  national  councils ;  and  was  also  often  a 
member  of  the  state  legislature.  He  was  elected  a  rep 
resentative  in  the  second  Congress,  under  the  federal 
constitution  —  an  appointment  which  he  held  until  a  short 
time  previous  to  his  death.  Two  or  three  of  the  sons  of 
Mr.  Clark  were  officers  in  the  army  during  the  revolu- 


372  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

tionary  struggle.  Unfortunately,  they  were  captured  by 
the  enemy.  During  a  part  of  their  captivity,  their  suffer 
ings  were  extreme,  being  confined  in  the  notorious  prison- 
ship  Jersey.  Painful  as  was  the  condition  of  his  sons, 
Mr.  Clark  scrupulously  avoided  calling  the  attention  of 
Congress  to  the  subject,  excepting  in  a  single  instance. 
One  of  his  sons,  a  captain  of  artillery,  had  been  cast  into  a 
dungeon,  where  he  received  no  other  food  than  that  which 
was  conveyed  to  him  by  his  fellow-prisoners  through  a  key 
hole.  On  a  representation  of  these  facts  to  Congress,  that 
body  immediately  directed  a  course  of  retaliation  on  a 
British  officer.  This  had  the  desired  effect,  and  Captain 
Clark's  condition  was  improved. 

On  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  in  June,  1794,  Mr. 
Clark  retired  from  public  life.  He  did  not  live  long, 
however,  to  enjoy  the  limited  comforts  he  possessed.  In 
the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  a  stroke  of  the  sun  put  an 
end  to  his  existence,  after  it  had  been  lengthened  out  to 
sixty-nine  years.  The  church  at  Rahway  contains  his 
mortal  remains,  and  a  marble  slab  marks  the  spot  where 
they  are  deposited.  It  bears  the  following  inscription  :  — 

Firm  and  decided  as  a  patriot, 
zealous  and  faithful  as  a  friend  to  the  public, 

he  loved  his  country, 

and  adhered  to  her  cause 

in  the  darkest  hours  of  her  struggles 

against  oppression. 


GEORGE  CLYMER. 

GEORGE  CLYMER  was  born  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
in  1739.  His  father  emigrated  from  Bristol,  in  England, 
and  became  connected  by  marriage  with  a  lady  of  Phila 
delphia.  Young  Clymer  was  left  an  orphan  at  the  age  of 
seven  years,  and,  after  the  completion  of  his  studies,  he  en 
tered  the  counting-house  of  his  maternal  uncle.  At  a  sub 
sequent  period,  he  established  himself  in  business,  in  con 
nection  with  Mr.  Robert  Ritchie,  and  afterwards  with  a 
father  and  son  of  the  name  of  Meredith,  a  daughter  of  the 
former  of  whom  he  married. 

Although  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  for  many  years, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  373 

Mr.  Clymer  was  never  warmly  attached  to  them,  but  de 
voted  a  great  part  of  his  time  to  literature  and  the  study 
of  the  fine  arts.  He  became  also  well  versed  in  the  prin 
ciples  of  law,  history,  and  politics,  and  imbibed  an  early 
detestation  of  arbitrary  rule  and  oppression.  When  all 
hopes  of  conciliation  with  the  parent  country  had  failed, 
he  was  one  of  the  foremost  to  adopt  measures  necessary 
for  a  successful  opposition.  He  accepted  a  captain's  com 
mission  in  a  company  of  volunteers,  raised  for  the  defence 
of  the  province,  and  vigorously  opposed,  in  1773,  the  sale 
of  the  tea,  which  tended  indirectly  to  levy  a  tax  upon  the 
Americans,  without  their  consent.  He  was  appointed 
chairman  of  a  committee  to  wait  upon  the  consignees  of 
the  offensive  article,  and  request  them  not  to  sell  it.  The 
consequence  was,  that  not  a  single  pound  of  tea  was  offered 
for  sale  in  Philadelphia. 

In  1775,  Mr.  Clymer  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  coun 
cil  of  safety,  and  one  of  the  first  continental  treasurers. 
On  the  20th  of  July  of  the  following  year,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress.  Though  not 
present  when  the  vote  was  taken  in  relation  to  a  dec 
laration  of  independence,  he  had  the  honor  of  affixing  his 
signature  to  that  instrument  in  the  following  month.  In 
December,  Congress,  finding  it  necessary  to  adjourn  to 
Baltimore,  in  consequence  of  the  advance  of  the  British 
army  towards  Philadelphia,  left  Mr.  Clymer,  Robert  Mor 
ris,  and  George  Walton,  a  committee  to  transact  such 
business  as  remained  unfinished,  in  that  city.  In  1777, 
Mr.  Clymer  was  again  a  member  of  Congress ;  and  his 
labors  during  that  session  being  extremely  arduous,  he  was 
obliged  to  retire  for  a  season,  to  repair  his  health.  In  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year,  his  family,  which  then  resided 
in  the  county  of  Chester,  suffered  severely  from  an  attack 
of  the  British ;  escaping  only  with  the  sacrifice  of  con 
siderable  property.  Mr.  Clymer  was  then  in  Philadelphia. 
On  the  arrival  of  the  enemy  in  that  place,  they  sought  out 
his  place  of  residence,  and  were  only  diverted  from  razing 
it  to  the  ground,  by  learning  that  it  did  not  belong  to  him. 
During  the  same  year,  he  was  sent,  in  conjunction  with 
others,  to  Pittsburg,  to  enlist  warriors  from  the  Shawnese 
and  Delaware  tribes  of  Indians,  on  the  side  of  the  United 
32 


374 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


States.  While  residing  at  Pittsburg,  he  narrowly  escaped 
death  from  the  tomahawk,  by  accidentally  turning  from  a 
road,  where  he  afterwards  learned  a  party  of  hostile  sav 
ages  lay  encamped. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  establishment  of  a  bank  by 
Robert  Morris  and  other  patriotic  citizens  of  Philadelphia, 
for  the  purpose  of  relieving  the  army,  Mr.  Clymer,  who 
gave  his  active  support  to  the  measure,  was  chosen  di 
rector  of  the  institution.  He  was  again  elected  to  Con 
gress  in  1780,  and  for  two  years  was  a  laborious  member 
of  that  body.  In  1782,  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
Princeton,  N.  J.,  but  in  1784,  he  was  summoned  by  the 
citizens  of  his  native  state,  to  take  a  part  in  their  General 
Assembly.  He  afterwards  represented  Pennsylvania  in 
Congress  for  two  years;  when,  declining  a  reelection,  he 
closed  his  long  and  able  legislative  career. 

In  1791,  Congress  passed  a  bill  imposing  a  duty  on 
spirits  distilled  in  the  United  States.  To  the  southern 
and  western  part  of  the  country,  this  measure  proved  very 
offensive.  Mr.  Clymer  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  ex 
cise  department  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania;  but  he  was 
soon  induced  to  resign  the  disagreeable  office.  In  1796, 
he  was  appointed,  with  Colonel  Hawkins  and  Colonel 
Pickiris,  to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  the  Cherokee  and 
Creek  Indians,  in  Georgia.  He  sailed  for  Savannah,  ac- 
<companied  by  his  wife.  The  voyage  proved  extremely 
unpleasant  and  perilous ;  but,  having  completed  the  busi 
ness  of  the  mission,  they  returned  to  Philadelphia.  Mr. 
Clymer  was  afterwards  called  to  preside  over  the  Phila 
delphia  Bank,  and  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  He  held 
these  offices  till  the  period  of  his  death,  which  took  place 
on  the  23d  of  January,  1813,  in  the  seventy-fourth  year  of 
his  age.  He  was  of  a  studious  and  contemplative  cast  of 
mind,  and  eager  to  promote  every  scheme  for  the  im 
provement  of  his  country.  His  intellect  was  strong  and 
cultivated,  his  character  amiable  and  pure,  and  his  integ 
rity  inviolable.  He  was  singularly  punctual  in  the  dis 
charge  of  his  duties,  and  was  a  man  of  extensive  infor- 
niation  and  the  smallest  pretensions. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  375 


WILLIAM  ELLERY. 

WILLIAM  ELLERY  was  born  in  Newport,  Rhode  Island, 
December  22d,  1727.  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  Col 
lege,  in  his  twentieth  year,  and  entered  upon  the  practice 
of  the  law,  at  Newport,  after  the  usual  preparatory  course. 
He  acquired  a  competent  fortune  from  his  profession,  and 
received  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

Mr.  Ellery  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  Congress  of 
1776,  and  took  his  seat  in  that  body  on  the  17th  of  May. 
Here  he  soon  became  an  efficient  and  influential  member, 
and  during  the  session  signed  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence.  Of  this  transaction  he  frequently  spoke.  He 
relates  having  placed  himself  beside  secretary  Thompson, 
that  he  might  observe  how  the  members  looked,  as  they 
put  their  names  to  their  death  warrant.  He  tasked  his 
powers  of  penetration,  but  could  discover  no  symptom  of 
fear  among  them,  though  all  seemed  impressed  with  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion.  In  1777,  Mr.  Ellery  was  ap 
pointed  one  of  the  marine  committee  of  Congress,  and  is 
supposed  to  have  first  recommended  the  plan  of  preparing 
fireships,  and  sending  them  out  from  the  state  of  Rhode 
Island.  He  shared  considerably  in  the  common  loss  of 
property,  which  was  sustained  by  the  inhabitants  of  New 
port,  on  the  occasion  of  the  British  taking  possession  of 
that  town. 

Mr.  Ellery  continued  a  member  of  Congress  until  the 
year  1785,  when  he  retired  to  his  native  state.  He  was 
successively  a  commissioner  of  the  continental  loan-office, 
a  chief  justice  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Rhode  Island, 
and  collector  of  the  customs  for  the  town  of  Newport. 
He  retained  the  latter  office  till  the  day  of  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  15th  of  February,  1820,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  ninety  years.  The  springs  of  existence 
seemed  to  have  worn  out  by  gradual  and  imperceptible 
degrees.  On  the  day  of  his  death,  he  had  risen  as  usual, 
and  rested  in  his  chair,  employed  in  reading  "  Cicero  de 
Officiis."  While  thus  engaged,  his  family  physician  called 
to  see  him.  On  feeling  his  pulse,  he  found  that  it  had 
ceased  to  beat.  A  draught  of  wine  and  water  quickened 
it  into  motion,  however,  once  more,  and  being  placed  and 


376  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

supported  on  the  bed,  he  continued  reading,  until  his 
bodily  functions  no  longer  afforded  a  tenement  for  the 
immortal  spirit,  and  discontinued  their  operations. 

Mr.  Ellery  was  a  man  of  much  humility  of  spirit,  and 
manifested  an  uncommon  disregard  of  the  applause  of 
men.  He  looked  upon  the  world  and  its  convulsions  with 
religious  serenity,  and,  in  times  of  trouble  and  alarm,  con 
soled  himself  and  others  with  the  pious  reflection  of  the 
Psalmist,  "  The  Lord  reigneth  " 


WILLIAM    FLOYD. 

WILLIAM  FLOYD  was  born  on  Long  Island,  December 
17th,  1734.  His  father  died  while  he  was  yet  young,  and 
left  him  heir  to  a  large  estate.  His  education  was  some 
what  limited,  but  his  native  powers  being  respectable,  he 
improved  himself  by  his  intercourse  with  the  opulent  and 
intelligent  families  of  his  neighborhood. 

At  an  early  period  of  the  controversy  between  the  colo 
nies  and  mother  country,  Mr.  Floyd  warmly  interested 
himself  in  the  cause  of  the  former.  His  devotion  to  the 
popular  side  led  to  his  appointment  as  a  delegate  from 
New  York  to  the  first  Continental  Congress.  In  the 
measures  adopted  by  that  body  he  most  heartily  con 
curred.  He  was  reelected  a  delegate  the  following  year, 
and  continued  a  member  of  Congress  until  after  the  dec 
laration  of  independence.  On  that  occasion  he  affixed 
his  signature  to  the  instrument  which  gave  such  a  mo 
mentous  direction  to  the  fate  of  a  growing  nation.  He 
likewise  served  on  numerous  important  committees,  and 
rendered  essential  service  to  the  patriotic  cause, 

Mr.  Floyd  suffered  severely  from  the  destructive  effects 
of  the  war  upon  his  property,  and  for  nearly  seven  years, 
his  family  were  refugees  from  their  habitation  ;  nor  did  he 
derive  any  benefit  from  his  landed  estate.  In  1777,  Gen 
eral  Floyd  (he  received  this  appellation  from  his  having 
commanded  the  militia  on  long  Island)  was  appointed  a 
senator  of  the  state  of  New  York.  In  1778,  he  was  again 
chosen  to  represent  his  native  state  in  the  Continental  Con 
gress.  From  this  time,  until  the  expiration  of  the  first 
Congress  under  the  federal  constitution,  General  Floyd 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  377 

was  either  a  member  of  the  National  Assembly,  or  of  the 
Senate  of  New  York.  In  1784,  he  purchased  an  unin 
habited  tract  of  land  on  the  Mohawk  River.  To  the  im 
provement  of  this  tract,  he  devoted  the  leisure  of  several 
successive  summers;  and  hither  he  removed  his  resi 
dence  in  1803.  He  continued  to  enjoy  unusual  health, 
until  a  few  days  previous  to  his  decease,  when  a  general 
debility  fell  upon  him,  and  he  died  August  4th,  18*21,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-seven  years.  General  Floyd  was  uniform 
and  independent  in  his  conduct ;  and  if  public  estimation 
be  a  just  criterion  of  his  merit,  he  was  excelled  by  few, 
since  for  more  than  fifty  years,  he  was  honored  with  offices 
of  trust  and  responsibility,  by  his  fellow-citizens. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  the  statesman  and  philosopher, 
was  born  in  Boston,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1706.  His 
father  emigrated  from  England,  and  had  recourse  for  a 
livelihood  to  the  business  of  a  chandler  and  soap-boiler. 
His  mother  was  a  native  of  Boston,  and  belonged  to  a  re 
spectable  family  of  the  name  of  Folger. 

Young  Franklin  was  placed  at  a  grammar  school  at 
an  early  age,  but,  at  the  expiration  of  a  year,  was  taken 
home  to  assist  his  father  in  his  business.  In  this  occupa 
tion  he  continued  two  years,  when  he  became  heartily 
tired  of  cutting  wicks  for  candles,  filling  moulds,  and  run 
ning  errands.  He  resolved  to  embark  on  a  seafaring  life ; 
but  his  parents  objected,  having  already  lost  a  son  at  sea. 
Having  a  passionate  fondness  for  books,  he  was  finally  ap 
prenticed  as  a  printer  to  his  brother,  who  at  that  time  pub 
lished  a  newspaper  in  Boston.  It  was  while  he  was  in  this 
situation,  that  he  began  to  try  his  powers  of  literary  com 
position.  Street  ballads  and  articles  in  a  newspaper  were 
his  first  efforts.  Many  of  his  essays,  which  were  inserted 
anonymously,  were  highly  commended  by  people  of  taste. 
Dissatisfied  with  the  manner  in  which  he  was  treated  by 
his  relative,  he,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  privately  quitted 
him,  and  went  to  Philadelphia.  The  day  following  his  ar 
rival,  he  wandered  through  the  streets  of  that  city  with  an 
appearance  little  short  of  a  beggar.  His  pockets  were  dis- 


378  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

tended  by  his  clothes,  which  were  crowded  into  them  ;  and, 
provided  with  a  roll  of  bread  under  each  arm,  he  proceeded 
through  the  principal  streets  of  the  city.  His  ludicrous 
appearance  attracted  the  notice  of  several  of  the  citizens, 
and  among  others  of  Miss  Reed,  the  lady  whom  he  after 
wards  married.  He  soon  obtained  employment  as  a  print 
er,  and  was  exemplary  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties.  De 
luded  by  a  promise  of  patronage  from  the  governor,  Sir 
William  Keith,  Franklin  visited  England  to  procure  the 
necessary  materials  for  establishing  a  printing-office  in 
Philadelphia.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  friend  Ralph, 
one  of  his  literary  associates.  On  their  arrival  in  Lon 
don,  Franklin  found  that  he  had  been  deceived  ;  and  he 
was  obliged  to  work  as  a  journeyman  for  eighteen  months. 
In  the  British  metropolis,  the  morals  of  neither  of  our  ad 
venturers  were  improved.  Ralph  conducted  as  if  he  had 
forgotten  that  he  had  a  wife  and  child  across  the  Atlantic  ; 
and  Franklin  was  equally  unmindful  of  his  pledges  to 
Miss  Reed.  About  this  period  he  published  "  A  Disserta 
tion  on  Liberty  and  Necessity,  Pleasure  and  Pain." 

In  1726,  Franklin  returned  to  Philadelphia ;  not  long 
after  which  he  entered  into  business  as  a  printer  and  sta 
tioner,  and,  in  1728,  established  a  newspaper.  In  1730, 
he  married  the  lady  to  whom  he  was  engaged  previous  to 
his  leaving  America.  In  1732,  he  began  to  publish  "  Poor 
Richard's  Almanac,"  a  work  which  was  continued  for 
twenty-five  years,  and  which,  besides  answering  the  pur 
poses  of  a  calendar,  contained  many  excellent  prudential 
maxims,  which  rendered  it  very  useful  arid  popular.  Ten 
thousand  copies  of  this  almanac  were  published  every  year 
in  America,  and  the  maxims  contained  in  it  were  often 
translated  into  the  languages  of  Europe. 

The  political  career  of  Franklin  commenced  in  1736, 
when  he  was  appointed  clerk  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania.  His  next  office  was  the  valuable  one  of 
postmaster  ;  and  he  was  subsequently  chosen  as  a  repre 
sentative.  He  assisted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Amer 
ican  Philosophical  Society,  and  of  a  college,  which  now 
exists  under  the  title  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
Chiefly  by  his  exertions,  a  public  library,  a  fire-preventing 
company,  an  insurance  company,  and  a  voluntary  associa- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  379 

tion  for  defence,  were  established  at  Philadelphia.  He 
was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Assembly,  to  which 
body  he  was  annually  reflected  for  ten  years.  Philosophy 
now  began  to  attract  his  attention,  and,  in  1749,  he  made 
those  inquiries  into  the  nature  of  electricity,  the  results  of 
which  placed  him  high  among  the  men  of  science  of  the 
age.  The  experiment  of  the  kite  is  well  known.  He  had 
conceived  the  idea  of  explaining  the  phenomena  of  light 
ning  upon  electrical  principles.  While  waiting  for  the 
erection  of  a  spire  for  the  trial  of  his  theory,  it  occurred 
to  him  that  he  might  have  more  ready  access  to  the  re 
gion  of  clouds  by  means  of  a  common  kite.  He  accord 
ingly  prepared  one  for  the  purpose,  affixing  to  the  upright 
stick  an  iron  point.  The  string  was,  as  usual,  of  hemp, 
except  the  lower  end,  which  was  silk,  and  where  the 
hempen  part  terminated,  a  key  was  fastened.  With  this 
simple  apparatus,  on  the  appearance  of  a  thunder-cloud, 
he  went  into  the  fields,  accompanied  by  his  son,  to  whom 
alone  he  communicated  his  intentions,  dreading  probably 
the  ridicule  which  frequently  attends  unsuccessful  attempts 
in  experimental  philosophy.  For  some  time,  no  sign  of 
electricity  presented  itself;  he  was  beginning  to  despair 
of  success,  when  he  suddenly  observed  the  loose  fibres  of 
the  string  to  start  forward  in  an  erect  position.  He  now 
presented  his  knuckle  to  the  key,  and  received  a  strong 
spark.  On  this  depended  the  fate  of  his  theory  ;  repeated 
sparks  were  drawn  from  the  key,  a  phial  was  charged,  a 
shock  given,  and  all  the  experiments  made  which  are 
usually  performed  with  electricity.  This  great  discovery 
he  applied  to  the  securing  of  buildings  from  the  effects  of 
lightning. 

In  1753,  Dr.  Franklin  was  appointed  deputy  postmaster- 
general  of  British  America.  In  this  station,  he  rendered 
important  services  to  General  Braddock,  in  his  expedition 
against  Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  marched  at  the  head  of  a 
company  of  volunteers  to  the  protection  of  the  frontier. 
He  visited  England  in  1757,  as  agent  for  the  colony  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  was  also  intrusted  by  the  other  colonies 
with  important  business.  While  in  London,  he  wrote  a 
pamphlet,  pointing  out  the  advantages  of  a  conquest  of 
Canada  by  the  English ;  and  his  arguments  are  believed 


380  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

to  have  conduced  considerably  to  that  event.  About  this 
period,  his  talents  as  a  philosopher  were  duly  appreciated 
in  various  parts  of  Europe.  He  was  admitted  a  fellow  of 
the  Royal  Society  of  London,  and  the  degree  of  doctor  of 
laws  was  c-onferred  upon  him  at  St.  Andrews,  Edinburgh, 
and  at  Oxford. 

In  1762,  he  returned  to  America,  and  in  1764  was 
again  appointed  the  agent  of  Pennsylvania,  to  manage  her 
concerns  in  England,  in  which  country  he  arrived  in  the 
month  of  December.  About  this  period,  the  stamp  act 
was  exciting  violent  commotions  in  America.  To  this 
measure  Dr.  Franklin  was  strongly  opposed,  and  he  pre 
sented  a  petition  against  it,  which,  at  his  suggestion,  had 
been  drawn  up  by  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly.  Among 
others,  he  was  summoned  before  the  House  of  Commons, 
where  he  underwent  a  long  examination.  His  answers 
were  fearless  and  decisive,  and  to  his  representations  the 
repeal  of  the  act  was,  no  doubt,  in  a  great  measure,  at 
tributable.  In  the  year  1766 — 67,  he  made  an  excursion 
to  Holland,  Germany,  and  France,  where  he  met  with  a 
most  flattering  reception.  He  was  chosen  a  member  of 
the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  received  diplomas 
from  many  other  learned  societies. 

Certain  letters  had  been  written  by  Governor  Hutchin- 
son,  addressed  to  his  friends  in  England,  which  reflected 
in  the  severest  manner  upon  the  people  of  America. 
These  letters  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Franklin, 
and  by  him  had  been  transmitted  to  America,  where  they 
were  at  length  inserted  in  the  public  journals.  For  a  time, 
no  one  in  England  knew  through  what  channel  the  letters 
had  been  conveyed  to  America.  In  1773,  Franklin  pub 
licly  avowed  himself  to  be  the  person  who  obtained  the 
letters  and  transmitted  them  to  America.  This  produced 
a  violent  clamor  against  him,  and  upon  his  attending  be 
fore  the  privy  council,  in  the  following  January,  to  present 
a  petition  from  the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  for  the  dismis 
sal  of  Governor  Hutchinson,  a  most  abusive  invective  was 
pronounced  against  him,  by  Mr.  Weddeburne,  afterwards 
Lord  Loughborough.  Among  other  epithets,  the  honor 
able  member  called  Franklin  a  coward,  a  murderer,  and  a 
thief.  During  the  whole  of  this  insulting  harangue,  Frank- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  381 

lin  sat  with  a  composed  and  unaverted  aspect,  "  as  if  his 
countenance  had  been  made  of  wood."  Throughout  this 
personal  and  public  outrage,  the  whole  assembly  seemed 
greatly  amused  at  Doctor  Franklin's  expense.  The  presi 
dent  even  laughed  aloud.  There  was  a  single  person 
present,  however,  Lord  North,  who  —  to  his  honor  be  it 
recorded  —  expressed  great  disapprobation  of  the  indecent 
conduct  of  the  assembly.  The  intended  insult,  however, 
was  entirely  lost.  The  coolness  and  dignity  of  Franklin 
soon  discomposed  his  enemies,  who  were  compelled  to 
feel  the  superiority  of  his  character.  Their  animosity 
caused  him  to  be  removed  from  the  office  of  postmaster- 
general,  interrupted  the  payment  of  his  salary  as  agent 
for  the  colonies,  and  finally  instituted  against  him  a  suit 
in  chancery  concerning  the  letters  of  Hutchinson. 

Despairing  of  restoring  harmony  between  the  colonies 
and  mother  country,  Doctor  Franklin  embarked  for  Amer 
ica,  where  he  arrived  in  1775.  He  was  received  with 
every  mark  of  esteem  and  admiration.  He  was  imme 
diately  elected  a  delegate  to  the  General  Congress,  and 
signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  In  1776,  he 
was  deputed,  with  others,  to  proceed  to  Canada,  to  per 
suade  the  people  of  that  province  to  throw  off  the  British 
yoke ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  Canada  had  been  so  much 
disgusted  with  the  zeal  of  the  people  of  New  England, 
who  had  burnt  some  of  their  chapels,  that  they  refused  to 
listen  to  the  proposals  made  to  them  by  Franklin  and  his 
associates.  In  1778,  he  was  despatched  by  Congress,  as 
ambassador  to  France.  The  treaty  of  alliance  with  the 
French  government,  and  the  treaties  of  peace,  in  1782 
and  1783,  as  well  as  treaties  with  Sweden  and  Prussia, 
were  signed  by  him.  On  his  reaching  Philadelphia,  in 
September,  1785,  his  arrival  was  hailed  by  applauding 
thousands  of  his  countrymen,  who  conducted  him  in  tri 
umph  to  his  residence.  This  was  a  period  of  which 
he  always  spoke  with  peculiar  pleasure.  In  1788,  he  with 
drew  from  public  life,  and  on  the  17th  of  April,  1790,  he 
expired  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  eighty-fourth 
year  of  his  age.  Congress  directed  a  general  mourning 
for  him  throughout  the  United  States ;  and  the  National 
Assembly  of  France  decreed  that  each  member  should 


382  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

wear  mourning  for  three  days.  Doctor  Franklin  lies 
buried  in  the  north-west  corner  of  Christ  Churchyard,  in 
Philadelphia.  In  his  will  he  directed  that  no  monumental 
ornaments  should  mark  his  grave.  A  small  marble  slab 
points  out,  the  spot  where  he  lies. 

Doctor  Franklin  had  two  children,  a  son  and  a  daugh 
ter.  The  son,  under  the  British  government,  was  ap 
pointed  governor  of  New  Jersey.  On  the  breaking  out 
of  the  revolution,  he  took  up  his  residence  in  England, 
where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days.  The  daughter 
was  respectably  married,  in  Philadelphia,  to  Mr.  William 
Bache,  whose  descendants  still  reside  in  that  city. 

In  stature,  Dr.  Franklin  was  above  the  middle  size. 
He  possessed  a  sound  constitution,  and  his  countenance 
indicated  a  placid  state  of  mind,  great  depth  of  thought, 
and  an  inflexible  resolution.  In  youth  he  took  a  skeptical 
turn  with  regard  to  religion,  but  his  strength  of  mind  led 
him  to  fortify  himself  against  vice  by  such  moral  princi 
ples  as  directed  him  to  the0  most  valuable  ends,  by  honor 
able  means.  According  to  the  testimony  of  his  most  in 
timate  friend,  Dr.  William  Smith,  he  became,  in  maturer 
years,  a  believer  in  divine  revelation.  The  following 
epitaph  on  himself  was  written  by  Doctor  Franklin,  many 
years  previously  to  his  death  :  — 

The  body  of 

BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN,  PRINTER, 
like  the  cover  of  an  old  book, 

its  contents  torn  out, 
and  stripped  of  its  lettering  and  gilding, 

lies  here  food  for  worms. 

Yet  the  work  itself  shall  not  be  lost; 

for  it  will  (as  he  believed)  appear  once  more 

in  a  new 

and  more  beautiful  edition, 

corrected  and  amended 

by  the  Author. 


ELBRIDGE    GERRY. 

ELBRIDGE  GERRY  was  born  at  Marblehead,  in  the  state 
of  Massachusetts,  July  17th,  1744.  He  became  a  member 
of  Harvard  College  before  his  fourteenth  year,  and,  on 
leaving  the  university,  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits  at 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  383 

Marblehead,  under  the  direction  of  his  father.  His  in 
clination  would  have  led  him  to  the  study  of  medicine ; 
but  great  success  attended  his  mercantile  enterprise,  and, 
in  a  few  years,  he  found  himself  in  the  enjoyment  of  a 
competent  fortune. 

In  May,  1772,  Mr.  Gerry  was  chosen  a  representative 
to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts,  to  which  office  he 
was  reelected  the  following  year.  During  this  year,  he 
was  appointed  one  of  the  committee  of  correspondence 
and  inquiry.  In  June,  the  celebrated  letters  of  Governor 
Hutchinson  to  persons  in  England  were  laid  before  the 
house  by  Mr.  Adams.  In  the  debates  on  this  disclosure, 
Mr.  Gerry  highly  distinguished  himself.  He  was  also 
particularly  active  in  the  scenes  of  1774.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Provincial  Congress  which  met  at  Con 
cord,  and  powerfully  contributed  to  the  measures  of  oppo 
sition  which  led  to  the  revolution.  In  1775,  the  new 
Provincial  Congress,  of  which  he  was  one,  assembled  at 
Cambridge.  In  this  body,  he  evinced  a  degree  of  patri 
otic  intrepidity,  which  was  surpassed  by  none. 

A  committee  of  Congress,  among  whom  were  Mr. 
Gerry,  Colonel  Orne,  and  Colonel  Hancock,  had  been  in 
session  in  the  village  of  Menotomy,  then  part  of  the  town 
ship  of  Cambridge.  The  latter  gentleman,  after  the  close 
of  the  session,  had  gone  to  Lexington.  Mr.  Gerry  and 
Mr.  Orne  remained  at  the  village;  the  other  members  of 
the  committee  had  dispersed.  Some  officers  of  the  royal 
army  had  passed  through  the  villages  just  before  dusk, 
and  the  circumstance  so  far  attracted  the  attention  of  Mr. 
Gerry,  that  he  despatched  an  express  to  Colonel  Hancock, 
who,  with  Samuel  Adams,  was  at  Lexington.  Mr.  Gerry 
and  Colonel  Orne  retired  to  rest,  without  taking  the  least 
precaution  against  personal  exposure,  and  they  remained 
quietly  in  their  beds,  until  the  British  advance  were  within 
view  of  the  dwelling-house.  It  was  a  beautiful  night,  and 
the  polished  arms  of  the  soldiers  glittered  in  the  moon 
beams,  as  they  moved  on  in  silence.  The  front  passed 
on.  When  the  centre  were  opposite  the  house  occupied 
by  the  committee,  an  officer  and  file  of  men  were  detached 
by  signal,  and  marched  towards  it.  The  inmates,  for 
whom  they  were  in  search,  found  means  to  escape,  half- 


384 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


dressed,  into  an  adjoining  cornfield,  where  they  remained 
concealed  until  the  troops  were  withdrawn.  Every  part 
of  the  house  was  searched  for  "  the  members  of  the  rebel 
Congress;"  even  the  beds  in  which  they  had  lain  were 
examined.  But  their  property,  and,  among  other  things, 
a  valuable  watch  of  Mr.  Gerry's,  which  was  under  his 
pillow,  were  undisturbed. 

On  the  17th  day  of  June,  the  memorable  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill  was  fought.  The  Provincial  Congress  was 
at  that  time  in  session  at  Watertown.  Before  the  battle, 
Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  president  of  the  Congress,  who  was  the 
companion  and  room-mate  of  Mr.  Gerry,  communicated  to 
him  his  intention  of  mingling  in  the  approaching  contest. 
The  night  preceding  the  doctor's  departure  to  the  scene  of 
battle,  he  is  said  to  have  lodged  in  the  same  bed  with  Mr. 
Gerry.  In  the  morning,  in  reply  to  the  admonitions  of  his 
friend,  he  uttered  the  well-known  words,  "  Dulce  et  de 
corum  est  pro  patria  mori."  *  The  sweetness  and  the 
glory  he  but  too  truly  experienced,  and  died  one  of  the 
earliest  victims  to  the  cause  of  his  country's  freedom. 

In  1775,  Mr.  Gerry  proposed  a  law  in  the  Provincial 
Congress  of  Massachusetts,  to  encourage  the  fitting  out 
of  armed  vessels,  and  to  provide  for  the  adjudication  of 
prizes.  This  important  measure  was  passed,  and,  under 
its  sanction,  several  of  the  enemy's  vessels,  with  valuable 
cargoes,  were  captured.  In  1776,  Mr.  Gerry  was  chosen 
a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  in  which  body  he 
shortly  after  took  his  seat.  His  services  in  this  capacity 
were  numerous  and  important.  Having  married  in  New 
York,  he  returned  to  his  native  state,  and  fixed  his  resi 
dence  at  Cambridge,  a  few  miles  from  Boston.  In  1787, 
Mr.  Gerry  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  which 
assembled  at  Philadelphia,  to  revise  the  articles  of  confed 
eration.  To  him  there  appeared  strong  objections  to  the 
federal  constitution,  and  he  declined  affixing  his  sig 
nature  to  the  instrument.  But  when  that  constitution 
had  gone  into  effect,  and  he  was  chosen  a  representative 
to  Congress,  he  cheerfully  united  in  its  support,  since  it 
had  received  the  sanction  of  the  country. 

*  It  is  sweet  and  glorious  to  die  for  one's  country. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  385 

In  1797,  Mr.  Gerry  was  appointed  to  accompany  Gen 
eral  Pinckney  and  Mr.  Marshall  on  a  special  mission  to 
France.  On  their  arrival  in  Paris,  the  tools  of  the  gov 
ernment  made  the  extraordinary  demand  of  a  large  sum 
of  money,  as  the  condition  of  any  negotiation.  This 
being  refused,  the  ridiculous  attempt  was  made  by  the 
Directory,  to  excite  their  fears  for  themselves  and  their 
country.  In  the  spring  of  1798,  two  of  the  envoys, 
Messrs.  Pinckney  and  Marshall,  were  ordered  to  quit  the 
territories  of  France,  while  Mr.  Gerry  was  invited  to  re 
main,  and  resume  the  negotiation  which  had  been  sus 
pended.  He  accepted  the  invitation  to  remain,  but  reso 
lutely  refused  to  resume  the  negotiation.  His  object  in 
remaining  was  to  prevent  an  immediate  rupture  with 
France,  which,  it  was  feared,  would  result  from  his  de 
parture.  His  continuance  seems  to  have  eventuated  in 
the  good  of  his  country.  "  He  finally  saved  the  peace  of 
the  nation,"  said  the  late  President  Adams,  "  for  he  alone 
discovered  and  furnished  the  evidence  that  X.  Y.  and  Z. 
were  employed  by  Talleyrand  ;  and  he  alone  brought 
home  the  direct,  formal,  and  official  assurances,  upon 
which  the  subsequent  commission  proceeded,  and  peace 
was  made." 

Mr.  Gerry  returned  to  America  in  1798,  and  in  1805 
was  elected,  by  the  republican  party,  governor  of  Massa 
chusetts.  In  the  following  year  he  retired,  but  in  1810 
was  again  chosen  chief  magistrate  of  that  commonwealth, 
which  office  he  held  for  two  succeeding  years.  In  1812, 
he  was  elected  vice-president  of  the  United  States,  into 
which  office  he  was  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1813.  While  attending  to  his  duties  at  Washington,  he 
was  suddenly  summoned  from  the  scene  of  his  earthly 
labors.  A  beautiful  monument,  erected  at  the  national 
expense,  bears  the  following  inscription  : — 

.     THK    TOMB    OF 

ELBRIDGE    GERRY, 

Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 

who  died  suddenly,  in  this  city,  on  his  way  to  the 

Capitol,  as  President,  of  the  Senate, 

November  23d,  1814, 

aged  70. 

33 


386  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


BUTTON  GWINNETT. 

BUTTON  GWINNETT  was  born  in  England,  about  the 
year  1732,  and,  on  coming  of  age,  became  a  merchant  in 
the  city  of  Bristol.  Some  time  after  his  marriage  in  his 
native  country,  he  removed  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina ; 
and,  having  continued  there  two  years,  he  purchased  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  Georgia,  where  he  became  exten 
sively  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 

Mr.  Gwinnett  had  long  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  the  colonies;  but  he  despaired  of  a  successful 
resistance  to  Great  Britain.  His  sentiments  on  this  point, 
however,  underwent  a  great  change,  and  he  became  a 
warm  advocate  for  opposing  the  unjust  exactions  of  the 
mother  country.  In  1776,  he  was  elected  a  represen 
tative  of  the  province  of  Georgia,  in  Congress.  He  ac 
cordingly  repaired  to  Philadelphia,  and  took  his  seat  in 
the  national  Council,  to  which  he  was  reflected  the  en 
suing  year.  He  was  afterwards  a  member  of  the  Con 
vention  held  at  Savannah,  to  frame  a  constitution  for  the 
state,  and  is  said  to  have  furnished  the  outlines  of  the 
constitution  which  was  finally  adopted.  On  the  death  of 
the  president  of  the  Provincial  Council,  Mr.  Gwinnett  was 
elected  to  the  vacant  station.  In  this  situation  he  seems 
to  have  indulged  in  an  unbecoming  hostility  towards  an 
old  political  rival,  Colonel  Mclntosh ;  adopting  several 
expedients  to  mortify  his  adversary,  and  never  divesting 
himself  of  his  imbittered  hatred  towards  him.  In  an  ex 
pedition  which  he  had  projected  against  East  Florida, 
Mr.  Gwinnett  designed  to  command  the  continental  troops 
and  militia  of  Georgia  himself,  thereby  excluding  Colonel 
Mclntosh  from  the  command  even  of  his  own  brigade. 

Just  at  this  period,  it  became  necessary  to  convene  the 
legislature.  In  consequence  of  his  official  duties,  Mr. 
Gwinnett  was  prevented  from  proceeding  on  the  expedi 
tion.  He  therefore  appointed  to  the  command  a  subordi 
nate  officer  of  Mclntosh's  brigade.  The  expedition  failed 
entirely,  and  contributed  to  defeat  the  election  of  Mr. 
Gwinnett  as  governor  of  the  state.  This  failure  blasted 
his  hopes,  and  brought  his  political  career  to  a  close. 
Mclntosh  was  foolish  enough  to  exult  in  the  mortification 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  387 

of  his  adversary.  The  consequence  was,  that  Mr.  Gwin- 
nett  presented  him  a  challenge.  They  fought  at  the  dis 
tance  of  only  twelve  feet.  Both  were  severely  wounded. 
The  wound  of  Mr.  Gwinnett  proved  fatal.  He  expired 
on  the  27th  of  May,  1777,  in  the  forty-fifth  year  of  his 
age,  —  a  melancholy  instance  of  the  misery  produced  by 
harboring  in  the  heart  the  absorbing  passion  of  rancor 
ous  envy. 

In  person,  Mr.  Gwinnett  was  tall,  and  of  a  noble  appear 
ance.  In  his  temper,  he  was  irritable ;  but  in  his  man 
ners,  courteous,  graceful,  and  polite. 


LYMAN   HALL. 

LYMAN  HALL  was  born  in  Connecticut,  about  the  year 
1731,  After  receiving  a  collegiate  education,  and  acquir 
ing  a  competent  knowledge  of  medicine,  he  removed  to 
Georgia,  where  he  established  himself  in  his  profession, 
in  Sunbury,  in  the  district  of  Medway.  On  the  com 
mencement  of  the  struggle  with  Great  Britain,  he  accepted 
of  a  situation  in  the  parish  of  St.  John,  which  was  a 
frontier  settlement,  and  exposed  to  incursions  of  the  Creek 
Indians,  and  of  the  royalists  of  Florida.  The  parish  of 
St.  John,  at  an  early  period,  entered  with  spirit  into  the 
opposition  to  the  mother  country,  while  the  rest  of  Geor 
gia  generally  maintained  different  sentiments.  So  widely 
opposite  were  the  feelings  of  this  patriotic  parish  to  those 
of  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  province,  that  an  almost 
total  alienation  took  place  between  them. 

In  1774,  the  liberal  party  held  a  general  meeting,  at 
Savannah,  where  Dr.  Hall  appeared  as  a  representative 
of  the  parish  of  St.  John.  The  measures  adopted,  how 
ever,  fell  far  short  of  his  wishes,  and  those  of  his  constitu 
ents.  At  a  subsequent  meeting,  it  was  agreed  to  petition 
the  king  for  a  redress  of  grievances. 

The  parish  of  St.  John,  dissatisfied  with  the  half-way 
measures  of  the  Savannah  Convention,  endeavored  to 
negotiate  an  alliance  with  the  committee  of  correspond 
ence  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  But  this  being 
impracticable,  the  inhabitants  of  St.  John  resolved  to  cut 
off  all  commercial  intercourse  with  Savannah  and  the 


388  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

surrounding  parishes.  Having  taken  this  independent 
stand,  they  next  made  a  unanimous  choice  of  Dr.  Hall 
as  their  representative  to  Congress.  In  the  following 
May,  Dr.  Hall  appeared  in  the  hall  of  Congress,  and  by 
that  body  was  unanimously  admitted  to  a  seat;  but,  as  he 
did  not  represent  the  whole  of  Georgia,  it  was  resolved 
to  reserve  the  question,  as  to  his  right  to  vote,  for  further 
deliberation.  Fortunately,  however,  on  the  15th  of  July, 
Georgia  acceded  to  the  general  confederacy,  and  proceed 
ed  to  the  appointment  of  five  delegates  to  Congress,  three 
of  whom  attended  at  the  adjourned  meeting  of  that  body 
in  1775. 

Among  these  delegates,  Dr.  Hall  was  one.  He  was 
annually  reelected  until  1780,  when  he  retired  from  the 
national  legislature.  On  the  possession  of  Georgia  by 
the  British,  his  property  was  confiscated,  and  he  obliged 
to  leave  the  state.  He  returned  in  1782,  and  the  follow 
ing  year  was  elected  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  Georgia. 
After  holding  this  office  for  some  time,  he  retired  from 
public  life,  and  died  at  his  residence  in  Burke  county,, 
about  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age. 


JOHN   HANCOCK. 

JOHN  HANCOCK  was  born  in  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  in 
the  year  1737.  Both  his  father  and  grandfather  were 
clergymen.  Having  lost  the  former  relative  while  yet  a 
child,  he  was  adopted  by  a  paternal  uncle,  Thomas  Han 
cock,  "  the  most  opulent  merchant  in  Boston,  and  the  most 
enterprising  man  in  New  England."  A  professorship 
had  been  founded  in  Harvard  College  by  his  liberality, 
and  to  the  library  of  that  institution  he  was  a  principal 
benefactor. 

Under  the  patronage  of  his  uncle,  the  nephew  received 
a  liberal  education  in  the  above  university,  where  he  was 
graduated  in  1754.  On  leaving  college,  he  was  employed 
as  a  clerk  in  the  counting-house  of  his  uncle,  where  he 
continued  till  1760,  when  he  visited  England  for  the  pur 
pose  of  extending  his  information  and  correspondence. 
He  returned  to  America  in  17(34 ;  shortly  after  which,  his 
uncle  died,  leaving  him  the  direction  of  his  enormous 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  389 

business,  and  a  fortune  the  largest  in  the  province.  Han 
cock  became  neither  haughty  nor  profligate  by  this  sud 
den  accession  of  wealth.  He  was  kind  and  liberal  to  the 
numerous  persons  dependent  upon  him  for  employment, 
and  maintained  a  character  for  integrity  and  ability  in  the 
management  of  his  vast  and  complicated  concerns.  His 
princely  estate,  added  to  his  honorable  and  generous  char 
acter,  soon  gave  him  influence,  and  ever  rendered  him 
popular. 

In  1766,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  legislature 
of  Massachusetts,  and  thus  became  intimately  associated 
with  James  Otis,  Samuel  Adams,  and  other  distinguished 
patriots.  In  this  assembly,  his  genius  rapidly  developed 
itself,  and  he  became  conspicuous  for  the  purity  of  his 
principles,  and  the  excellence  of  his  abilities. 

The  arrival  of  a  vessel  belonging  to  Mr.  Hancock,  in 
1768,  which  was  said  to  be  loaded  contrary  to  the  revenue 
laws,  produced  a  violent  ebullition  of  popular  feeling. 
This  vessel  was  seized  by  the  custom-house  officers,  and 
placed  under  the  guns  of  the  Romney,  at  that  time  in  the 
harbor,  for  security.  This  seizure  greatly  exasperated 
the  people,  and,  in  their  excitement,  they  assaulted  the 
revenue  officers,  and  compelled  them  to  seek  safety  on 
board  the  armed  vessel,  or  in  the  neighboring  castle. 
The  boat  of  the  collector  was  destroyed,  and  several  of 
the  houses  of  his  partisans  were  razed  to  the  ground. 
Mr.  Hancock,  although  in  no  wise  concerned  in  the 
transaction,  received  from  it  a  considerable  accession  of 
popularity. 

A  few  days  after  the  affray  which  is  usually  termed 
"  the  Boston  Massacre,"  and  to  which  we  have  briefly 
adverted  in  the  sketch  of  Samuel  Adams,  Mr.  Hancock 
was  appointed  to  deliver  an  address  in  commemoration  of 
the  event.  After  speaking  of  his  attachment  to  a  just 
government,  and  his  detestation  of  tyranny,  he  proceeded 
to  describe  the  profligacy  and  abandoned  life  of  the  troops 
quartered  amongst  them.  Not  satisfied  with  their  own 
shameful  debauchery,  they  strove  to  vitiate  the  morals  of 
the  citizens,  and  "  thereby  render  them  worthy  of  destruc 
tion."  He  spoke  in  terms  of  unmeasured  indi  mation  of 
the  massacre  of  the  inhabitants,  and  in  appalling  lan- 
33  * 


390  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

guage  forewarned  the  perpetrators  of  the  deed  of  the 
vengeance  which  would  overtake  them  hereafter,  "  if  the 
laboring  earth  did  not  expand  her  jaws;  if  the  air  they 
breathed  were  not  commissioned  to  be  the  immediate 
minister  of  death."  He  proceeded  in  the  following  spir 
ited  strain  :  — 

"  But  I  gladly  quit  this  theme  of  death.  I  would  not 
dwell  too  long  upon  the  horrid  effects  which  have  already 
followed  from  quartering  regular  troops  in  this  town  ;  let 
our  misfortunes  instruct  posterity  to  guard  against  these 
evils.  Standing  armies  are  sometimes  (I  would  by  no 
means  say  generally,  much  less  universally)  composed 
of  persons  who  have  rendered  themselves  unfit  to  live  in 
civil  society  ;  who  are  equally  indifferent  to  the  glory  of 
a  George  or  a  Louis ;  who,  for  the  addition  of  one  penny 
a  day  to  their  wages,  would  desert  from  the  Christian 
cross,  and  fight  under  the  crescent  of  the  Turkish  sultan  : 
from  such  men  as  these  what  has  not  a  state  to  fear  ? 
With  such  as  these,  usurping  Caesar  passed  the  Rubicon ; 
with  such  as  these,  he  humbled  mighty  Rome,  and  forced 
the  mistress  of  the  world  to  own  a  master  in  a  traitor. 
These  are  the  men  whom  sceptred  robbers  now  employ  to 
frustrate  the  designs  of  God,  and  render  vain  the  bounties 
which  his  gracious  hand  pours  indiscriminately  upon  his 
creatures." 

The  intrepid  style  of  this  address  removed  all  doubts  as 
to  the  devoted  patriotism  of  Mr.  Hancock.  His  manners 
and  habits  had  spread  an  opinion  unfavorable  to  his  re 
publican  principles.  His  mansion  rivalled  the  magnifi 
cence  of  a  European  palace.  Gold  and  silver  embroidery 
adorned  his  garments ;  and  his  carriage,  horses,  and  ser 
vants  in  livery,  emulated  the  splendor  of  the  English  nobil 
ity.  But  the  sentiments  expressed  by  him  in  the  above 
address  were  so  public  and  explicit  as  to  cause  a  complete 
renovation  of  his  popularity.  From  this  time,  he  became 
odious  to  the  governor  and  his  adherents.  Efforts  were 
made  to  get  possession  of  his  person,  and  he,  with  Samuel 
Adams',  was  excluded  from  the  general  pardon  offered  by 
Governor  Gage  to  all  who  would  manifest  a  proper  peni 
tence  for  their  opposition  to  the  royal  authority. 

In    1774,    Hancock   was  unanimously   elected   to   the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  391 

presidential  chair  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachu 
setts.  The  following  year,  the  honor  of  the  presidency  of 
the  Continental  Congress  was  conferred  upon  him.  His 
recent  proscription  by  Governor  Gage,  no  doubt,  contrib 
uted  to  his  popularity  in  that  body.  In  this  station  Han 
cock  continued  till  October,  1777 ;  when  his  infirm  health 
induced  him  to  resign  his  office.  He  was  afterwards  a 
member  of  the  Convention  appointed  to  frame  a  constitu 
tion  for  Massachusetts,  and  in  1780  was  chosen  first  gov 
ernor  of  the  commonwealth,  to  which  station  he  was 
annually  elected,  until  the  year  1785,  when  he  resigned. 
After  an  interval  of  two  years,  he  was  reflected  to  the 
same  office.  He  continued  in  it  till  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  took  place  the  8th  of  October,  1793,  in  the  fifty-fifth 
year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Hancock  was  a  firm  and  energetic  patriot,  and, 
though  possessed  of  immense  wealth,  devoted  himself  to 
the  laborious  service  of  his  country.  It  has  been  remarked, 
that  by  the  force  with  which  he  inscribed  his  name  on 
the  parchment,  which  bears  the  declaration  of  independ 
ence,  he  seems  to  have  determined  that  his  name  should 
never  be  erased.  His  liberality  was  great,  and  hundreds 
of  families,  in.  times  of  distress,  were  daily  fed  from  his 
munificence.  He  has  been  accused  by  his  enemies  of  a 
passion  for  popularity;  but,  whatever  may  have  been  the 
truth  of  the  charge,  a  fondness  for  being  beloved  can  be 
hardly  reckoned  among  the  bad  traits  of  a  man's  character. 
A  noble  instance  of  his  contempt  of  wealth,  in  comparison 
with  public  expediency,  is  recorded. 

At  the  time  the  American  army  was  besieging  Boston 
to  expel  the  British,  who  held  possession  of  the  town,  the 
entire  destruction  of  the  place  was  proposed  by  the  Ameri 
can  officers.  By  the  execution  of  such  a  plan,  the  whole 
fortune  of  Mr.  Hancock  would  have  been  sacrificed.  Yet 
he  readily  acceded  to  the  measure,  declaring  his  willing 
ness  to  surrender  his  all,  whenever  the  liberties  of  his 
country  should  require  it. 


392  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

BENJAMIN   HARRISON. 

BENJAMIN  HARRISON  was  born  in  Berkley,  Virginia.  He 
was  the  descendant  of  a  family  distinguished  in  the  history 
of  the  state,  and  was  a  student  in  the  College  of  William 
and  Mary,  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death.  In  conse 
quence  of  a  misunderstanding  with  an  officer  of  that  insti 
tution,  he  left  it  before  the  regular  period  of  graduation, 
and  returned  home. 

The  management  of  his  father's  estate  now  devolved 
upon  him,  and  he  displayed  an  unusual  degree  of  pru 
dence  and  ability  in  the  discharge  of  his  trust.  He  was 
summoned  at  an  early  date,  even  before  he  had  attained 
the  age  required  by  law,  to  sustain  the  reputation  acquired 
by  his  ancestors,  in  state  affairs.  He  was  chosen  a  mem 
ber  of  the  legislature  about  the  year  1764,  a  station  which 
he  may  be  said  to  have  held  through  life,  since  he  was 
always  elected  to  a  seat,  whenever  his  other  political 
avocations  admitted  of  his  occupying  it.  His  fortune 
being  ample,  and  his  influence  as  a  political  leader  very 
considerable,  the  royal  government  proposed  to  create  him 
a  member  of  the  Executive  Council  of  Virginia.  Mr.  Har 
rison  was  not  to  be  seduced,  however,  by  the  attractions 
of  rank  and  power.  Though  young,  he  was  ardently  de 
voted  to  the  cause  of  the  people,  and  remained  steadfast  in 
his  opposition  to  royal  oppression. 

Mr.  Harrison  was  a  member  of  the  Congress  of  1774, 
and  from  that  period,  during  nearly  every  session,  repre 
sented  his  native  state  in  that  assembly.  In  this  situation 
he  was  characterized  for  great  firmness,  good  sense,  and  a 
peculiar  sagacity  in  difficult  and  critical  junctures.  He 
was  likewise  extremely  popular  as  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  of  the  whole  house.  An  anecdote  is  related  of 
him  on  the  occasion  of  the  declaration  of  independence. 
While  signing  the  instrument,  he  noticed  Mr.  Gerry,  of 
Massachusetts,  standing  beside  him.  Mr.  Harrison  him 
self  was  quite  corpulent ;  Mr.  Gerry  was  slender  and  spare. 
As  the  former  raised  his  hand,  having  inscribed  his  name 
on  the  roll,  he  turned  to  Mr.  Gerry,  and  facetiously  ob 
served,  that  when  the  time  of  hanging  should  come,  he 
should  have  the  advantage  over  him.  "  It  will  be  over 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  393 

with  me,"  said  he,  "  in  a  minute ;  but  you  will  be  kicking 
in  the  air  half  an  hour  after  I  am  gone." 

Towards  the  close  of  1777,  Mr.  Harrison  resigned  his 
seat  in  Congress,  and  returned  to  Virginia.  In  1782,  he 
was  chosen  governor  of  the  state,  to  which  office  he  was 
twice  reflected,  when  he  became  ineligible  by  the  pro 
visions  of  the  constitution.  In  1788,  when  the  new  con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  was  submitted  to  Virginia,  he 
was  returned  a  member  of  her  Convention.  In  1799,  he 
was  again  proposed  as  a  candidate  for  the  executive  chair, 
but  declined  in  favor  of  his  friend,  Beverly  Randolph.  In 
the  spring  of  1791,  Mr.  Harrison  was  attacked  by  a  severe 
fit  of  the  gout,  a  recurrence  of  which  malady  shortly  after 
put  a  period  to  his  life. 

Mr.  Harrison  became  connected  by  marriage  with  Miss 
Bassett,  a  niece  to  the  sister  of  Mrs.  Washington.  He 
had  many  children,  and  several  of  his  sons  became  men  of 
distinction.  His  third  son,  William  Henry  Harrison,  has 
honorably  served  his  country  in  various  official  capacities, 
and  died  April  4,  1841,  one  month  after  his  inauguration 
fts  President  of  the  United  States, 


JOHN   HART. 

JOHN  HART  was  the  son  of  Edward  Hart,  of  Hopewell, 
in  the  county  of  Hunterdon,  in  New  Jersey.  He  inherited 
from  his  father  a  considerable  estate,  and,  having  married, 
devoted  himself  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and  became  a 
worthy  and  respectable  farmer. 

The  reputation  which  he  acquired  for  integrity,  dis 
crimination,  and  enlightened  prudence,  soon  brought  him 
into  notice,  and  he  was  often  chosen  a  member  of  the  Co 
lonial  Assembly.  Although  one  of  the  most  gentle  and 
unobtrusive  of  men,  he  could  not  suppress  his  abhorrence 
of  the  aggressions  of  the  British  ministry.  He  maintained 
a  fearless  and  uniform  opinion  with  regard  to  the  rights  of 
the  colonies,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  express  it  when  occa 
sion  invited  him.  On  the  meeting  of  the  Congress  of  1774, 
Mr.  Hart  appeared  and  took  his  seat ;  having  been  elected 
by  a  conference  of  committees  from  several  parts  of  the 


394  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

colony.  During  several  succeeding  sessions,  he  continued 
to  represent  the  people  of  New  Jersey,  in  the  same  Assembly. 
When  the  question  of  a  declaration  of  independence  was 
brought  forward,  he  was  at  his  post,  and  voted  for  the 
measure  with  unusual  zeal. 

In  1776,  New  Jersey  became  the  theatre  of  war,  and 
Mr.  Hart  sustained  severe  losses,  by  the  destruction  of  his 
property.  His  children  were  compelled  to  flee,  his  farm 
was  pillaged,  and  great  exertions  were  made  to  secure  him 
as  a  prisoner.  For  some  time  he  was  hunted  with  untir 
ing  perseverance.  He  was  reduced  to  the  most  distressing 
shifts  to  elude  his  enemies ;  being  often  severely  pressed 
by  hunger,  and  destitute  of  a  place  of  repose  for  the  night. 
In  one  instance,  he  was  obliged  to  conceal  himself  in  the 
usual  resting-place  of  a  large  dog,  who  was  his  companion 
for  the  time. 

The  battles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton  led  to  the  evacu 
ation  of  New  Jersey  by  the  British.  On  this  event,  Mr. 
Hart  again  collected  his  family  around  him,  and  began  to 
repair  the  desolation  of  his  farm.  His  constitution,  how 
ever,  had  sustained  a  shock  which  was  irreparable.  His 
health  gradually  failed  him;  and  though  he  lived  to  see 
the  prospects  of  his  country  brighten,  he  died  before  the 
conflict  was  so  gloriously  terminated.  He  expired  in  the 
year  1780.  The  best  praise  that  can  be  awarded  to  Mr. 
Hart,  is,  that  he  was  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him.  He 
was  very  liberal  to  the  Baptist  church  of  Hopewell,  to 
which  community  he  belonged ;  and  his  memory  was  hal 
lowed  by  the  esteem  and  regret  of  a  large  circle  of  friends. 


JOSEPH   HEWES. 

JOSEPH  HEWES  was  born  near  Kingston,  in  New  Jer 
sey,  in  the  year  1730.  His  parents  were  Quakers,  who 
removed  from  Connecticut,  on  account  of  the  existing 
prejudices  against  them  among  the  Puritans,  and  of  the 
hostilities  of  the  Indians. 

At  a  suitable  age,  Joseph  Hewes  became  a  member  of 
Princeton  College  ;  and,  after  having  graduated  in  due 
course,  he  was  placed  in  the  counting-house  of  a  gentle- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  395 

man  at  Philadelphia,  to  be  educated  as  a  merchant.  On 
leaving  this  situation,  he  entered  into  business  for  himself, 
and  was  highly  successful  in  his  commercial  transactions. 
At  the  age  of  thirty  he  removed  to  North  Carolina,  and 
settled  in  the  village  of  Edenton.  Prosperity  continued 
to  attend  him  here,  and  he  soon  acquired  a  handsome  for 
tune.  By  his  probity  and  liberal  dealings,  he  also  gained 
the  esteem  of  the  people  among  whom  he  lived,  and  was 
called  to  represent  them  in  the  colonial  legislature  of  the 
province.  This  distinction  was  conferred  upon  him  for 
several  successive  years,  during  which  he  increased  in 
popularity  with  his  constituents. 

In  1774,  Mr.  Hewes  was  chosen  one  of  the  three  dele 
gates  from  North  Carolina  to  the  Continental  Congress. 
No  members  of  that  body  brought  with  them  credentials 
of  a  bolder  stamp  than  the  delegates  from  North  Carolina. 
They  were  invested  with  such  powers  as  might  "  make 
any  acts  done  by  them,  or  consent  given  in  behalf  of  this 
province,  obligatory  in  honor  upon  any  inhabitant  thereof, 
who  is  not  an  alien  to  his  country's  good,  and  an  apostate, 
to  the  liberties  of  America."  On  the  meeting  of  this 
Congress,  Mr.  Hewes  was  nominated  one  of  the  committee 
appointed  to  "  state  the  rights  of  the  colonies  in  general, 
the  several  instances  in  which  those  rights  had  been  vio 
lated  or  infringed,  arid  the  means  most  proper  to  be  pur 
sued  for  obtaining  a  restoration  of  them."  He  also  assist 
ed  in  preparing  their  celebrated  report,  which  was  drawn 
up  as  follows  :  — 

"  1.  That  they  are  entitled  to  life,  liberty,  and  property; 
and  they  have  never  ceded  to  any  sovereign  power  what 
ever  a  right  to  dispose  of  either,  without  their  consent. 

"2.  That  our  ancestors,  who  first  settled  these  colonies, 
were,  at  the  time  of  their  emigration  from  the  mother 
country,  entitled  to  all  the  rights,  liberties,  and  immunities 
of  free  and  natural  born  subjects,  within  the  realm  of 
England. 

"  3.  That  by  such  emigration  they  by  no  means  for 
feited,  surrendered,  or  lost,  any  of  those  rights  ;  but  that 
they  were,  and  their  descendants  now  are,  entitled  to  the 
exercise  and  enjoyment  of  all  such  of  them  as  their  local 


396  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

and  other  circumstances  enable  them  to  exercise  and 
enjoy. 

"  4.  That  the  foundation  of  English  liberty,  and  of  free 
government,  is  a  right  in  the  people  to  participate  in  their 
legislative  council ;  and  as  the  English  colonists  are  not 
represented,  and,  from  their  local  and  other  circumstances, 
cannot  properly  be  represented  in  the  British  Parliament, 
they  are  entitled  to  a  free  and  exclusive  power  of  legisla 
tion  in  their  several  provincial  legislatures,  where  their 
right  of  representation  can  alone  be  pursued  in  all  cases 
of  taxation  and  internal  polity,  subject  only  to  the  negative 
of  their  sovereign,  in  such  manner  as  has  been  hereto 
fore  used  and  accustomed ;  but  if,  from  the  necessity  of 
the  case,  and  a  regard  to  the  mutual  interests  of  both 
countries,  we  cheerfully  consent  to  the  operation  of  such 
acts  of  the  British  Parliament  as  are  bona  fide  restrained 
to  the  regulation  of  our  external  commerce,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  securing  the  commercial  advantages  of  the  whole 
eirpire  to  the  mother  country,  and  the  commercial  benefit 
of  its  respective  members  ;  excluding  every  idea  of  taxa 
tion,  internal  or  external,  for  raising  a  revenue  on  the  sub 
jects  in  America,  without  their  consent. 

"  5.  That  the  respective  colonies  are  entitled  to  the 
common  law  of  England,  and,  more  especially,  to  the 
great  and  inestimable  privilege  of  being  tried  by  their 
peers  of  the  vicinage,  according  to  the  course  of  that  law. 

"  6.  That  they  are  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  such  of  the 
English  statutes  as  existed  at  the  time  of  their  coloniza 
tion,  and  which  they  have,  by  experience,  respectively 
found  applicable  to  their  several  local  and  other  circum 
stances. 

"  7.  That  these  his  majesty's  colonies  are  likewise  en 
titled  to  all  the  immunities  and  privileges  granted  and  con 
firmed  to  them  by  royal  charters,  or  secured  by  their 
several  codes  of  provincial  laws. 

"  8.  That  they  have  a  right  peaceably  to  assemble,  con 
sider  of  their  grievances,  and  petition  the  king  ;  and  that 
all  prosecutions,  prohibitory  proclamations,  and  commit 
ments  for  the  same,  are  illegal. 

"  9.  That  the  keeping  a  standing  army  in  these  colonies 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  397 

in  times  of  peace,  without  consent  of  the  legislature  of 
that  colony  in  which  such  army  is  kept,  is  against  the  law. 

"  10.  It  is  indispensably  necessary  to  good  government, 
and  rendered  essential  by  the  English  constitution,  that 
the  constituent  branches  of  the  legislature  be  independent 
of  each  other;  and  therefore  the  exercise  of  legislative 
power  in  several  colonies  by  a  council  appointed  during 
pleasure  by  the  crown,  is  unconstitutional,  dangerous,  and 
destructive  to  the  freedom  of  American  legislation. 

"  All  and  each  of  which  the  aforesaid  deputies,  in  be 
half  of  themselves  and  their  constituents,  do  claim,  de 
mand,  and  insist  on,  as  their  indisputable  rights  and  lib 
erties,  which  cannot  be  legally  taken  from  them,  altered, 
or  abridged,  by  any  power  whatever,  without  their  con 
sent,  by  their  representatives  in  their  several  provincial 
legislatures." 

To  the  above  declaration  of  rights  was  added  an  enu 
meration  of  the  wrongs  already  sustained  by  the  colonies  ; 
after  stating  which,  the  report  concluded  as  follows :  — 

"  To  these  grievous  acts  and  measures  Americans  can 
not  submit ;  but  in  hopes  their  fellow-subjects  in  Great 
Britain  will,  on  a  revision  of  them,  restore  us  to  that  state 
in  which  both  countries  found  happiness  and  prosperity, 
we  have,  for  the  present,  only  resolved  to  pursue  the  fol 
lowing  peaceable  measures:  1.  To  enter  into  a  non-im 
portation,  non-consumption,  and  non-exportation  agree 
ment  or  association  ;  2.  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  peo 
ple  of  Great  Britain,  and  a  memorial  to  the  inhabitants 
of  British  America ;  and,  3.  to  prepare  a  loyal  address  to 
his  majesty,  agreeably  to  resolutions  already  entered  into." 

Although  engaged  in  extensive  commercial  transactions, 
Mr.  Hewes,  about  this  time,  assisted  in  forming  the  plan 
of  the  non-importation  association,  and  readily  became  a 
member  of  it.  He  was  again  elected  to  Congress  by  the 
people  of  North  Carolina  in  1775,  and  remained  in  Phila 
delphia  until  the  adjournment  of  that  assembly  in  July. 
He  continued  to  represent  the  same  state,  almost  without 
intermission,  for  four  succeeding  years,  and  gave  very 
general  satisfaction.  The  last  time  that  he  appeared  in 
Congress  was  on  the  29th  of  October,  1779.  After  this 
date,  an  indisposition,  under  which  he  had  labored  for 
34 


398  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

some  time,  confined  him  to  his  chamber,  and  at  length,  on 
the  10th  of  November,  terminated  his  life,  in  the  fiftieth 
year  of  his  age.  His  funeral  was  numerously  attended, 
and,  in  testimony  of  their  respect  to  his  memory,  Congress 
resolved  to  wear  crape  round  the  left  arm  for  the  space  of 
one  month.  Mr.  Hewes  left  a  large  fortune,  but  no  chil 
dren  to  inherit  it. 


THOMAS   HEYWARD. 

THOMAS  HEYW\RD  was  born  in  St.  Luke's  parish,  in 
South  Carolina,  in  the  ycjar  1746.  His  father  was  a 
planter  of  fortune,  and  young  Hey  ward  received  the  best 
education  that  the  province  could  afford.  Having  finished 
his  scholastic  studies,  he  entered  upon  those  of  the  law, 
and,  after  the  usual  term  of  application,  was  sent  to  Eng 
land  to  complete  himself  in  his  profession.  He  was  en 
rolled  as  a  student  in  one  of  the  Inns  of  Court,  and  devo 
ted  himself  with  great  ardor  to  the  acquirement  of  legal 
knowledge. 

On  completing  his  studies  in  England,  he  commenced 
the  tour  of  Europe,  which  occupied  him  several  years. 
After  enjoying  the  advantages  of  foreign  travel,  he  returned 
to  his  native  country,  and  devoted  himself,  with  great 
zeal  for  a  man  of  fortune,  to  the  labors  of  the  law.  In 
1775,  Mr.  Heyward  was  elected  to  supply  a  vacancy  in 
Congress,  and  arrived  at  Philadelphia  in  season  to  join 
in  the  discussion  of  the  great  question  of  independence. 
In  1778,  he  was  prompted  by  a  sense  of  duty  to  accept  of 
an  appointment  as  judge  of  the  Criminal  Court  of  the 
new  government.  Soon  after  his  elevation  to  the  bench, 
he  was  called  upon  to  preside  at  the  trial  and  condemna 
tion  of  several  persons  charged  with  a  treasonable  corre 
spondence  with  the  enemy.  The  conviction  of  these  indi 
viduals  was  followed  by  their  execution,  which  took  place 
within  view  of  the  British  army,  to  whom  it  rendered  the 
judge  particularly  obnoxious. 

In  the  sprint;  of  1780,  the  city  of  Charleston  was  taken 
possession  of  by  General  Clinton.  Judge  Heyward,  at 
that  time,  had  command  of  a  battalion.  On  the  reduction 
of  the  place,  he  became  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  was  trans- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  399 

ported,  with  some  others,  to  St.  Augustine.  During  his 
absence,  he  suffered  greatly  in  respect  to  his  property. 
His  plantation  was  much  injured,  and  his  slaves  were 
seized  and  carried  away.  He  at  length  had  leave  to  re 
turn  to  Philadelphia,  On  his  passage  thither,  he  nar 
rowly  escaped  a  watery  grave.  By  some  accident  he  fell 
overboard  ;  but,  fortunately,  he  kept  himself  from  sink 
ing,  by  holding  to  the  rudder  of  the  ship,  until  assistance 
could  be  rendered  him.  On  his  return  to  Carolina,  he  re 
sumed  his  judicial  duties,  in  the  exercise  of  which  he  con 
tinued  till  1798.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  for 
forming  the  state  constitPtion,  in  1791),  and  was  conspic 
uous  for  his  sound  judgment  and  unchanging  patriotism. 
Having  retired  from  the  most  arduous  of  his  public  labors 
and  cares,  he  died  in  March,  1839,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year 
of  his  age.  Mr.  Heyward  was  twice  married,  and  was 
the  father  of  several  children.  He  was  estimable  for  his 
amiable  disposition,  his  virtuous  principles,  and  his  exten 
sive  acquaintance  with  men  and  things. 


WILLIAM   HOOPER. 

WILLIAM  HOOPER  was  born  in  Boston,  on  the  17th  of 
June,  1742.  He  entered  Harvard  University  at  the  age 
of  fifteen,  and  was  graduated  in  1769.  His  father,  who 
was  pastor  of  Trinity  Church,  in  Boston,  had  destined  his 
son  for  the  ministerial  profession;  but  the  latter  having 
an  inclination  for  the  law,  he  was  placed  in  the  office  of 
the  celebrated  James  Otis,  to  pursue  the  study  of  his 
choice.  On  being  qualified  for  the  bar,  young  Hooper 
removed  to  North  Carolina,  and,  having  married,  finally 
established  himself  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Wilmington. 

He  was  soon  placed,  by  his  talents,  among  the  foremost 
advocates  of  the  province,  and  was  chosen  to  represent 
the  town  of  Wilmington,  in  the  General  Assembly.  He 
was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  same  body  the  following  year, 
and  was  always  one  of  the  boldest  opposers  of  the  tyran 
nical  encroachments  of  the  British  government.  In  1774, 
Mr.  Hooper  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  memorable 
Congress  which  met  at  Philadelphia.  He  took  an  im- 


400  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

portant  share  in  the  discussions  of  this  assembly,  and  was 
remarkable  for  his  fluent  and  animated  elocution.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  same  body  the  following  year,  and, 
during  the  session,  drew  up,  as  chairman  of  different 
committees,  several  able  addresses  and  reports.  In  1776, 
the  private  affairs  of  Mr.  Hooper  requiring  his  attention 
in  North  Carolina,  he  did  not,  for  some  time,  attend  upon 
the  sitting  of  Congress.  He  returned,  however,  in  season 
to  share  in  the  honor  and  danger  of  signing  the  imperisha 
ble  instrument  which  declared  the  colonies  of  North  Amer 
ica  free  and  independent.  Having  been  elected  to  Congress 
a  third  time,  Mr.  Hooper  was  obliged  to  resign  his  seat  in 
February,  1777,  and  return  to  the  adjustment  of  his  own 
embarrassed  affairs. 

In  1786,  he  was  appointed,  by  Congress,  one  of  the 
judges  of  a  federal  court,  formed  for  the  purpose  of  set 
tling  a  controversy  which  existed  between  the  states  of 
New  York  and  Massachusetts,  in  regard  to  certain  lands. 
In  the  following  year,  his  health  being  considerably  im 
paired,  he  sought  to  restore  it  by  private  retirement. 
This,  however,  he  did  not  live  long  to  enjoy.  He  died 
in  October,  1790,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  years,  leaving 
a  wife  and  three  children.  Mr.  Hooper  was  distinguished 
for  his  conversational  powers,  his  good  taste,  and  his  de 
votion  to  his  profession.  As  a  politician,  he  was  constant, 
judicious,  and  enthusiastic.  He  never  gave  way  to  de 
spondency,  possessing  an  unshaken  confidence  that  Heav 
en  would  defend  the  right. 


STEPHEN   HOPKINS. 

STEPHEN  HOPKINS  was  born  near  Providence,  R.  L, 
in  a  place  now  called  Scituate,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1707. 
He  was  of  respectable  parentage,  being  a  descendant  of 
Benedict  Arnold,  the  first  governor  of  Rhode  Island. 
His  early  education  was  limited ;  but  he  is  said  to  have 
excelled  in  penmanship,  and  in  the  practical  branches  of 
mathematics. 

For  several  years  he  followed  the  profession  of  a  farm 
er.  He  was  afterwards  chosen  town  clerk  of  Scituate, 
and  a  representative  to  the  General  Assembly.  He  was 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  401 

subsequently  appointed  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  a  jus 
tice  of  one  of  the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas.  In  1733,  he 
became  chief  justice  of  that  court.  In  1742,  he  removed 
to  Providence,  where  he  entered  into  commerce,  and  was 
extensively  engaged  in  building  and  fitting  out  vessels. 
He  was  chosen  a  representative  from  that  town  to  the  Gen 
eral  Assembly,  and  became  speaker  of  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives.  In  1751,  he  was  made  chief  justice  of  the 
Superior  Court,  and  held  that  office  till  the  year  1754, 
when  he  was  appointed  a  commissioner  to  the  celebrated 
Albany  Convention.  The  object  of  this  Convention  was 
the  securing  of  the  friendship  of  the  five  great  Indian  na 
tions,  in  the  approaching  French  war,  and  a  union  between 
the  several  colonies  of  America. 

In  1756,  Mr.  Hopkins  was  elected  chief  magistrate  of 
the  colony  of  Rhode  Island.  This  office  he  continued  to 
hold,  almost  without  intermission,  until  1767,  discharging 
its  duties  in  an  efficient  and  highly  satisfactory  manner. 
He  resolutely  espoused  the  cause  of  the  colonies,  and,  in 
a  pamphlet,  entitled  "The  Rights  of  Colonies  examined," 
proved  the  injustice  of  the  stamp  act,  and  other  meas 
ures  of  the  British  ministry.  In  1774,  Mr.  Hopkins  re 
ceived  the  appointment  of  delegate  from  Rhode  Island  to 
the  Continental  Congress.  In  this  assembly  he  took  his 
seat  on  the  first  day  of  the  session,  and  became  one  of  the 
most  zealous  advocates  of  the  measures  adopted  by  that 
illustrious  body  of  men.  In  the  years  1775  and  1776,  he 
again  represented  Rhode  Island  in  Congress.  In  this 
latter  year,  he  affixed  his  name  to  the  Declaration  of  In 
dependence.  His  signature  was  the  only  *bne  upon  the 
roll  which  gave  indications  of  a  trembling  hand  ;  but  it 
was  not  the  tremulousness  of  fear.  Mr.  Hopkins  had  for 
some  time  been  afflicted  with  a  paralytic  affection,  which 
compelled  him,  when  he  wrote,  to  guide  his  right  hand 
with  his  left. 

In  1778,  Mr.  Hopkins  was  a  delegate  to  Congress  for 
the  last  time;  but  for  several  years  afterwards,  he  was  a 
member  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island.  He 
closed  his  useful  and  honorable  life  on  the  13th  of  July, 
1785,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age.  Mr.  Hopkins 
was  enabled,  by  the  vigor  of  his  understanding,  to  surmount 
34*  ~ 


402  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

his  early  deficiencies,  and  rise  to  the  most  distinguished 
offices  in  the  gift  of  his  fellow-citizens.  He  possessed 
considerable  fondness  for  literature,  and  greatly  excelled 
as  a  mathematician.  He  was  an  unshaken  friend  of  his 
country,  and  an  enemy  to  civil  and  religious  intolerance, 
distinguished  for  his  liberality,  and  for  the  correct  and 
honorable  discharge  of  his  various  duties. 

FRANCIS  HOPKINSON. 

FRANCIS  HOPKINSON  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  the 
year  1737.  His  father  was  an  Englishman,  who,  a  short 
time  previous  to  his  emigration  to  America,  married  a 
niece  of  the  bishop  of  Worcester.  He  was  a  man  of  a 
cultivated  mind  and  considerable  literary  accomplishments, 
and  became  intimate  with  Benjamin  Franklin,  by  whom 
he  was  held  in  high  estimation.  Upon  the  death  of  Mr. 
Hopkinson,  which  occurred  while  he  was  in  the  prime  of 
life,  the  care  of  his  family  devolved  upon  his  widow,  who 
was  eminently  qualified  for  the  task.  She  was  a  woman 
of  superior  mind;  and,  discovering  early  indications  of 
talent  in  her  son,  she  resolved  to  make  every  sacrifice  to 
furnish  him  with  a  good  education.  She  placed  him  at  the 
-College  of  Philadelphia,  and  lived  to  see  him  graduate  with 
reputation,  and  attain  a  high  eminence  at  the  bar. 

In  1766,  Francis  Hopkinson  embarked  for  England, 
•and  received,  upon  the  occasion,  a  public  expression  of 
respect  and  affection  from  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
College  of  Philadelphia.  After  a  residence  of  more  than 
two  years  in  the  land  of  his  forefathers,  he  returned  to 
America.  He  soon  after  married  Miss  Borderi,  of  Bor- 
dentown,  in  New  Jersey,  where  he  took  up  his  residence, 
and  was  appointed  collector  of  the  customs  and  executive 
counsellor.  These  offices  he  did  not  long  enjoy,  having 
sacrificed  them  to  his  attachment  to  the  liberties  of  his 
country.  He  enlisted  himself  warmly  in  the  cause  of  the 
people,  and  in  1776  was  appointed  a  delegate  from  New 
Jersey  to  the  Continental  Congress.  He  voted  for  the 
declaration  of  independence,  and  affixed  his  signature  to 
the  engrossed  copy  of  that  instrument.  In  1779,  he  was 
Appointed  judge  of  the  Admiralty  Court  of  Pennsylvania, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  403 

and  for  ten  years  continued  to  discharge  with  fidelity  the 
duties  of  that  office. 

Soon  after  the  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution, 
Mr.  Hopkinson  received  from  Washington  the  appoint 
ment  of  judge  of  the  United  States  for  the  district  of 
Pennsylvania.  In  this  station,  he  conscientiously  avoided 
mingling  in  party  politics.  His  life  was  suddenly  termi 
nated,  while  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness,  on  the  8th  of 
May,  1791.  He  died  of  an  apoplectic  fit,  which,  in  two 
hours  after  the  attack,  put  a  period  to  his  existence. 

Mr.  Hopkinson  was  endued  with  considerable  powers 
of  humor  and  satire,  which  he  employed  effectually  in 
rousing  the  feelings  of  the  people,  during  the  war  of  the 
revolution.  He  was  the  author  of  several  fugitive  pieces, 
which  were  very  popular  in  their  day.  His  well-known 
ballad,  called  "The  Battle  of  the  Kegs,"  gives  evidence 
of  a  rich  and  exhaustless  fund  of  humor,  and  will  probably 
last  the  wear  of  centuries.  He  excelled  in  music,  and  had 
some  knowledge  of  painting.  His  library  was  extensive, 
and  his  stock  of  knowledge  constantly  accumulating.  In 
stature,  Mr.  Hopkinson  was  below  the  common  size.  His 
countenance  was  animated,  his  speech  fluent,  and  his 
motions  were  unusually  rapid.  Few  men  were  kinder  in 
their  dispositions,  or  more  benevolent  in  their  lives.  He 
left,  at  his  decease,  a  widow  and  five  children.  The  eldest 
of  these,  Joseph  Hopkinson,  occupies  an  eminent  rank 
among  the  advocates  of  the  American  bar. 

SAMUEL  HUNTINGTON. 

SAMUEL  E!UNTINGTON  was  born  in  Windham,  Connecti 
cut,  on  the  2d  of  July,  1732.  Being  the  eldest  son,  his 
father  required  his  assistance  on  the  farm,  and  his  oppor 
tunities  for  study  were  accordingly  brief  and  extremely 
rare.  He  possessed,  however,  a  vigorous  understanding, 
and  supplied  his  deficiencies  of  instruction  by  an  assiduous 
and  a  persevering  devotion  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  he  was  probably  equal,  in 
point  of  literary  attainments,  to  most  of  those  who  had  re 
ceived  a  collegiate  education. 

Conceiving  a  fondness  for  legal  pursuits,  he  abandoned 


404  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

his  occupation  of  husbandry,  and  resolved  to  enter  alone 
and  unaided  upon  the  study  of  the  law.  He  soon  obtained 
a  competent  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  the  profession, 
to  commence  the  practice  of  an  attorney  in  his  native 
town  ;  but  in  1760,  he  removed  to  Norwich,  where  a  wider 
field  presented  itself  for  the  exercise  of  his  talents.  Here 
he  soon  became  distinguished  for  his  ability,  his  integrity, 
and  his  strict  attention  to  business.  In  1764,  Mr.  Hunt- 
ington  represented  the  town  of  Norwich  in  the  General 
Assembly,  and  the  following  year  was  appointed  to  the 
office  of  king's  attorney.  In  1774,  he  became  an  associ 
ate  judge  in  the  Superior  Court,  and  soon  after  an  assistant 
in  the  Council  of  Connecticut. 

His  talents  and  patriotism  recommending  him  to  public 
confidence,  he  was  elected,  in  1775,  a  delegate  to  the  Con 
tinental  Congress.  In  the  subsequent  July,  he  voted  in 
favor  of  the  declaration  of  independence.  Mr.  Hunting- 
ton  continued  a  member  of  Congress  until  the  year  1781, 
when  ill  health  induced  him  to  resign.  On  the  departure 
of  Mr.  Jay,  as  minister  to  Spain,  he  had  been  appointed  to 
the  presidency  of  the  Congress,  and  had  served  in  that 
honorable  station  with  distinguished  ability  and  dignity. 
[n  testimony  of  their  approbation  of  his  conduct  in  the 
chair,  and  in  the  execution  of  public  business,  Congress, 
soon  after  his  retirement,  accorded  to  Mr.  Huntington  the 
expression  of  their  public  thanks.  On  his  return  to  his 
native  state,  he  resumed  his  judicial  functions,  and  in  1782 
was  reflected  to  Congress.  He  did  not  attend,  however, 
till  the  following  year,  when  he  resumed  his  seat.  He  con 
tinued  a  conspicuous  member  until  November,  at  which 
time  he  finally  retired  from  the  national  assembly. 

Soon  after  his  return  to  Connecticut,  he  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  Superior  Court,  and  the  following  year 
was  chosen  lieutenant-governor  of  the  state.  In  1786,  he 
succeeded  Governor  Griswold  in  the  office  of  chief  magis 
trate,  and  was  annually  reflected  to  that  station  during  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  His  death  took  place  on  the  5th  of 
January,  1796,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  Mr. 
Huntington  was  a  sincere  Christian,  and  few  men  possessed 
a  greater  share  of  mildness  and  equanimity  of  temper. 
He  rose  from  the  humble  situation  of  a  ploughboy  by  his 


BIOGRAPHICAL     SKETCHES.  405 

own  industry  and  perseverance,  and  without  the  advantage 
of  family  patronage  or  influence.  He  married  in  the 
thirtieth  year  of  his  age ;  but,  having  no  children,  he 
adopted  a  son  and  daughter  of  his  brother,  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Huntington. 
) 

FRANCIS  LIGHTFOOT  LEE. 

FRANCIS  LIGHTFOOT  LEE  was  born  in  Virginia,  in  1734. 
He  was  the  fourth  son  of  Thomas  Lee,  who  for  several 
years  held  the  office  of  president  of  the  king's  council. 

Francis  Lightfoot  did  not  receive  the  advantage,  enjoyed 
by  his  elder  brothers,  of  an  education  at  the  English  uni 
versities.  He  was  placed,  however,  under  the  care  of  an 
accomplished  domestic  tutor  of  the  name  of  Craig,  and 
acquired  an  early  fondness  for  literature.  He  became  well 
versed  in  the  most  important  branches  of  science,  and 
probably  obtained  as  good  an  education  as  the  country 
could  then  afford.  The  fortune  bequeathed  him  by  his 
father  rendered  the  study  of  a  profession  unnecessary,  and 
he  accordingly  surrendered  himself,  for  several  years,  to 
the  enjoyment  of  literary  ease  and  social  intercourse.  He 
possessed,  however,  an  active  mind,  and  warmly  interested 
himself  in  the  advancement  of  his  country.  In  1765,  he 
was  returned  a  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  from  the 
county  of  Loudon,  where  his  estate  was  situated.  He  was 
annually  reflected  to  this  office  until  1772,  when,  having 
married  a  lady  of  Richmond  county,  he  removed  thither, 
and  was  soon  after  chosen  by  the  citizens  of  that  place  to 
the  same  station. 

In  1775,  Mr.  Lee  was  appointed  by  the  Virginia  Con 
vention  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress.  He  took 
his  seat  in  this  assembly,  and,  though  he  seldom  engaged 
in  the  public  discussions,  was  surpassed  by  none  in  his 
zeal  to  forward  the  interests  of  the  colonies.  His  brother, 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  had  the  high  honor  of  bringing  for 
ward  the  momentous  question  of  independence ;  but  no 
one  was,  perhaps,  a  warmer  friend  of  the  measure  than 
Francis  Lightfoot. 

Mr.  Lee  retired  from  Congress  in  1779.  He  was  fondly 
attached  to  the  pleasures  of  home,  and  eagerly  sought  an 


406  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

opportunity  when  his  services  were  not  essentially  needed 
by  his  country,  to  resume  the  undisturbed  quiet  of  his 
former  life.  He  was  not  long  permitted  to  enjoy  his 
seclusion.  He  reluctantly  obeyed  the  summons  of  his 
fellow-citizens  to  represent  them  once  more  in  the  legis 
lature  of  Virginia.  His  duties  were  most  faithfully  dis 
charged  while  a  member  of  this  body  ;  but  he  soon  became 
weary  of  the  bustle  and  vexations  of  public  life,  and  relin 
quished  them  for  the  pleasures  of  retirement.  In  the 
latter  period  of  his  life,  he  found  an  unfailing  source  of 
happiness  to  himself,  in  contributing  largely  to  the  enjoy 
ment  of  others.  His  benevolence  and  the  urbanity  of  his 
manners  rendered  him  beloved  by  all.  He  was  a  practical 
friend  to  the  poor,  and  a  companion  to  the  young  or  the 
aged,  the  light-hearted  or  the  broken  in  spirit.  Having  no 
children,  he  devoted  his  time  chiefly  to  reading,  farming, 
and  company.  His  death  was  occasioned  by  a  pleurisy, 
which  disease  also  terminated  the  life  of  his  wife  a  few 
days  after  his  own  departure.  He  died  in  the  consoling 
belief  of  the  gospel,  and  in  peace  with  all  mankind  and 
his  own  conscience. 

The  brothers  of  Mr.  Lee  were  all  eminently  distin 
guished  for  their  talents  and  for  their  services  to  their 
country  —  Philip  Ludwell,  a  member  of  the  king's  Coun 
cil  ;  Thomas  Ludwell,  a  member  of  the  Virginia  As 
sembly  ;  Richard  Henry,  as  the  champion  of  American 
freedom  ;  William,  as  a  sheriff  and  alderman  of  London, 
and  afterwards  a  commissioner  of  the  Continental  Con 
gress  at  the  courts  of  Berlin  and  Vienna ;  and  Arthur,  as 
a  scholar,  a  politician,  and  diplomatist. 


RICHARD   HENRY   LEE. 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  a  brother  of  the  foregoing,  was 
born  at  Stratford,  Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  on  the 
20th  of  January,  1732.  He  received  his  education  in 
England,  where  his  acquisitions  were  considerable  in 
scientific  and  classical  knowledge.  He  returned  to  his  na 
tive  country  when  in  his  nineteenth  year,  arid  devoted  him 
self  to  the  general  study  of  history,  politics,  law,  and  polite 
literature,  without  engaging  in  any  particular  profession. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  407 

About  the  year  1757,  he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  where  a  natural  diffidence  for  some 
time  prevented  him  from  displaying  the  full  extent  of  his 
powers  and  resources.  This  impediment,  however,  was 
gradually  removed,  and  he  rapidly  rose  into  notice  as  a 
persuasive  and  eloquent  speaker.  In  1764,  he  was  ap 
pointed  to  draught  an  address  to  the  king,  and  a  me 
morial  to  the  House  of  Lords,  which  are  among  the  best 
state  papers  of  the  period.  Some  years  afterwards,  Le 
brought  forward  his  celebrated  plan  for  the  formation  of 
a  committee  of  correspondence,  whose  object  was  "  to 
watch  the  conduct  of  the  British  Parliament ;  to  spread 
more  widely  correct  information  on  topics  connected  with 
the  interests  of  the  colonies,  and  to  form  a  chosen  union 
of  the  men  of  influence  in  each."  This  plan  was  origi 
nated  about  the  same  time  in  Massachusetts,  by  Samuel 
Adams. 

The  efforts  of  Mr.  Lee  in  resisting  the  various  en 
croachments  of  the  British  government  were  indefatigable, 
and  in  1774  he  attended  the  first  General  Congress  at 
Philadelphia,  as  a  delegate  from  Virginia.  He  was  a 
member  of  most  of  the  important  committees  of  this  body, 
and  labored  with  unceasing  vigilance  and  energy.  The 
memorial  of  Congress  to  the  people  of  British  America, 
and  the  second  address  of  Congress  to  the  people  of  Great 
Britain,  were  both  from  his  pen.  The  following  year,  he 
was  again  deputed  to  represent  Virginia  in  the  same  as 
sembly,  and  his  exertions  were  equally  zealous  and  suc 
cessful.  Among  other  responsible  duties,  he  was  ap 
pointed,  as  chairman  of  a  committee,  to  furnish  General 
Washington,  who  had  been  summoned  to  the  command 
of  the  American  armies,  with  his  commission  and  in 
structions. 

On  the  7th  of  June,  1776,  Mr.  Lee  introduced  the 
measure  which  declared,  "  That  these  united  colonies 
are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  states; 
that  they  are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British 
crown ;  and  that  all  political  connection  between  them 
and  the  state  of  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally 
dissolved."  This  important  motion  he  supported  by  a 


408  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

speech  of  the  most  brilliant  eloquence.  "  Why,  then,  sir," 
said  he,  in  conclusion,  "  why  do  we  longer  delay?  Why 
still  deliberate  ?  Let  this  happy  day  give  birth  to  an 
American  republic.  Let  her  arise,  not  to  devastate  and 
to  conquer,  but  to  reestablish  the  reign  of  peace  and  of 
law.  The  eyes  of  Europe  are  fixed  upon  us ;  she  de 
mands  of  us  a  living  example  of  freedom,  that  may  ex 
hibit  a  contrast  in  the  felicity  of  the  citizen  to  the  ever- 
increasing  tyranny  which  desolates  her  polluted  shores. 
She  invites  us  to  prepare  an  asylum,  where  the  unhappy 
may  find  solace,  and  the  persecuted  repose.  She  invites 
us  to  cultivate  a  propitious  soil,  where  that  generous  plant 
which  first  sprung  up  and  grew  in  England,  but  is  now 
withered  by  the  poisonous  blasts  of  Scottish  tyranny,  may 
revive  and  flourish,  sheltering  under  its  salubrious  and 
interminable  shade  all  the  unfortunate  of  the  human  race. 
If  we  are  not  this  day  wanting  in  our  duty,  the  names  of 
the  American  legislators  of  1776  will  be  placed  by  pos 
terity  at  the  side  of  Theseus,  Lycurgus,  and  Romulus,  of 
the  three  Williams  of  Nassau,  and  of  all  those  whose 
memory  'has  been,  and  ever  will  be,  dear  to  virtuous  men 
and  good  citizens." 

The  debate  on  the  above  motion  of  Mr.  Lee  was  pro 
tracted  until  the  tenth  of  June,  when  Congress  resolved, 
"  That  the  consideration  of  the  resolution  respecting  in 
dependence  be  postponed  till  the  first  Monday  in  July 
next ;  and  in  the  mean  while,  that  no  time  may  be  lost, 
in  case  the  Congress  agree  thereto,  that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  prepare  a  declaration  to  the  effect  of  the  said 
resolution." 

As  the  mover  of  the  original  resolution  for  inde 
pendence,  it  would,  according  to  parliamentary  usage, 
have  devolved  upon  Mr.  Lee  to  have  been  appointed  chair 
man  of  the  committee  selected  to  prepare  a  declaration, 
and,  as  chairman,  to  have  furnished  that  important  doc 
ument.  But  on  the  day  on  which  the  resolution  was  taken, 
Mr.  Lee  was  unexpectedly  summoned  to  attend  upon  his 
family  in  Virginia,  some  of  the  members  of  which  were 
dangerously  ill ;  and  Mr.  Jefferson  was  appointed  chair 
man  in  his  place. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  409 

Mr.  Lee  continued  to  hold  a  seat  in  Congress  till  June, 
1777,  when  he  solicited  leave  of  absence  on  account  of 
the  delicate  state  of  his  health.  In  August  of  the  next 
year,  he  was  again  elected  to  Congress,  and  continued  in 
that  body  till  1780,  when  he  declined  a  reelection,  be 
lieving  that  he  would  be  more  useful  to  his  native  state 
by  holding  a  seat  in  her  Assembly.  In  1784,  however, 
he  again  accepted  an  appointment  as  representative  to 
Congress,  of  which  body  he  was  unanimously  elected 
president.  In  this  exalted  station  he  presided  with  great 
ability ;  and  on  his  retirement,  received  the  acknowl 
edgments  of  Congress. 

Mr.  Lee  was  opposed  to  the  adoption  of  the  federal 
constitution,  without  amendment.  Its  tendency,  he  be 
lieved,  was  to  consolidation.  To  guard  against  this,  it 
was  his  wish  that  the  respective  states  should  impart  to 
the  Federal  Head  only  so  much  power  as  was  necessary 
for  mutual  safety  and  happiness v  He  was  appointed  a 
senator  from  Virginia,  under  the  new  constitution. 

About  the  year  1792,  Mr.  Lee  was  compelled,  by  his 
bodily  debility  and  infirmities,  to  retire  wholly  from  public 
business.  Not  long  after,  he  had  the  pleasure  of  receiv 
ing,  from  the  legislature  of  his  native  state,  a  unanimous 
vote  of  thanks  for  his  public  services,  and  of  sympathy 
for  the  impaired  condition  of  his  health.  He  died  on  the 
19th  of  June,  1794,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years. 

In  private  life,  Mr.  Lee  was  the  delight  of  all  who  knew 
him.  He  had  a  numerous  family  of  children,  the  offspring 
of  two  marriages,  who  were  tenderly  devoted  to  their 
father.  As  an  orator,  he  exercised  an  uncommon  sway 
over  the  minds  of  men.  His  gesture  was  graceful  and 
highly  finished,  and  his  language  perfectly  chaste.  He 
reasoned  well,  and  declaimed  freely  and  splendidly ;  and 
such  was  his  promptitude,  that  he  required  no  preparation 
for  debate.  He  was  well  acquainted  with  classical  litera 
ture,  and  possessed  a  rich  store  of  political  knowledge. 
Few  men  have  passed  through  life  in  a  more  honorable 
and  brilliant  manner,  or  left  behind  them  a  more  desirable 
reputation,  than  Richard  Henry  Lee. 
35 


410  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

FRANCIS   LEWIS. 

FRANCIS  LEWIS  was  a  native  of  Landaff,  in  South 
Wales,  where  he  was  born  in  the  year  1713.  Being  left 
an  orphan  at  the  age  of  four  or  five  years,  the  care  of  him 
devolved  upon  a  maiden  aunt,  who  took  singular  pains  to 
instruct  him  in  the  native  language  of  his  country.  He 
was  afterwards  sent  to  Scotland,  where,  in  the  family  of 
a  relation,  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  Gaelic.  From 
this  he  was  transferred  to  the  school  of  Westminster, 
xvhere  he  completed  his  education,  and  enjoyed  the  repu 
tation  of  being  a  good  classical  scholar. 

Having  determined  on  the  pursuit  of  commerce,  he  en 
tered  the  counting-room  of  a  London  merchant,  and  in  a 
few  years  acquired  a  competent  knowledge  of  his  pro 
fession.  On  attaining  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  he 
converted  the  whole  of  his  property  into  merchandise,  and 
sailed  for  New  York,  where  he  arrived  in  the  spring  of 
1735.  Leaving  a  part  of  his  goods  to  be  disposed  of  by 
Mr.  Edward  Annesly,  with  whom  he  had  formed  a  com 
mercial  connection,  he  transported  the  remainder  to  Phila 
delphia.  After  a  residence  of  two  years  in  the  latter  city, 
he  returned  to  New  York,  and  there  became  extensively 
engaged  in  navigation  and  foreign  trade.  He  married  the 
sister  of  his  partner,  by  whom  he  had  several  children. 

Mr.  Lewis  acquired  the  character  of  an  active  and  en 
terprising  merchant.  In  the  course  of  his  commercial 
transactions,  he  visited  several  of  the  seaports  of  Russia, 
the  Orkney  and  Shetland  Islands,  and  was  twice  ship 
wrecked  on  the  Irish  coast. 

During  the  French  or  Canadian  war,  he  was  agent  for 
supplying  the  British  troops,  and  was  present,  in  1756,  at 
the  surrender  of  Fort  Oswego  to  the  French  general,  De 
Montcalm.  He  exhibited  great  firmness  and  ability  on 
the  occasion ;  and  his  services  were  held  in  such  con 
sideration  by  the  British  government,  that,  at  the  close 
of  the  war,  he  received  a  grant  of  five  thousand  acres 
of  land. 

The  conditions  upon  which  the  garrison  at  Fort  Oswego 
surrendered,  were  shamefully  violated  by  De  Montcalm. 
He  allowed  the  chief  warrior  of  the  Indians,  who  assisted 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  411 

in  taking  the  fort,  to  select  about  thirty  of  the  prisoners, 
and  to  do  with  them  as  he  pleased.  Of  this  number  Mr. 
Lewis  was  one.  Thus  placed  at  the  disposal  of  savage 
power,  a  speedy  death  was  one  of  the  least  evils  to  be 
expected.  It  has  been  asserted,  however,  that  Mr.  Lewis 
discovered  that  he  was  able  to  converse  with  the  Indians, 
by  reason  of.  the  similarity  of  the  ancient  language  of 
Wales,  which  he  understood,  to  their  dialect.*  His  abil 
ity  to  communicate  by  words  to  the  chief,  so  pleased  the 
latter,  that  he  treated  him  kindly,  and,  on  arriving  at  Mont 
real,  requested  the  French  governor  to  allow  him  to  return 
to  his  family  without  ransom.  The  request,  however,  was 
not  granted,  and  Mr.  Lewis  was  sent  as  a  prisoner  to 
France,  from  which  country,  being  some  time  after  ex 
changed,  he  returned  to  America. 

Although  Mr.  Lewis  was  not  a  native  of  America,  yet 
his  attachment  to  the  country  was  early  and  devoted.  He 
vigorously  opposed  the  oppressive  measures  of  Great  Brit 
ain,  and  esteemed  liberty  the  choicest  blessing  that  a 
nation  can  enjoy.  His  intellectual  powers,  and  uniform 
nobility  of  sentiment,  commanded  the  respect  of  the  peo 
ple;  and,  in  1775,  he  was  unanimously  elected  a  delegate 
to  Congress.  He  remained  a  member  of  that  body 
through  the  following  year,  1776,  and  was  among  the 
number  who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
For  several  subsequent  years,  he  was  appointed  to  rep 
resent  New  York  in  the  national  assembly,  and  per 
formed  various  secret  and  important  services,  with  great 
fidelity  and  prudence. 

In  1775,  Mr.  Lewis  removed  his  family  and  effects  to 
a  country-seat  which  he  owned  on  Long  Island.  This 
proved  an  unfortunate  step.  In  the  autumn  of  the  follow 
ing  year,  his  house  was  plundered  by  a  party  of  British 
light  horse.  His  extensive  library  and  valuable  papers 
were  wantonly  destroyed.  His  wife  fell  into  the  power  of 
the  enemy,  and  was  retained  a  prisoner  for  several  months. 
During  her  captivity,  she  experienced  the  most  atrocious 

*  It  is  almost  needless  to  remark,  that  such  an  occurrence  is,  to 
say  the  best  of  it,  extremely  improbable.  There  exists  no  affinity 
between  the  ancient  language  of  Wales  and  that  of  any  of  the 
Indian  tribes  known  in  North  America. 


412  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

treatment,  being  closely  confined,  and  deprived  of  a  bed 
and  sufficient  clothing.  By  the  influence  of  Washington, 
she  was  at  length  released  ;  but  her  constitution  had  been 
so  impaired  by  her  sufferings,  that,  in  a  year  or  two,  she 
sank  into  the  grave. 

The  latter  days  of  Mr.  Lewis  were  spent  in  comparative 
poverty.  He  died  on  the  30th  day  of  December,  1803,  in 
the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age. 

PHILIP   LIVINGSTON. 

PHILIP  LIVINGSTON  was  born  at  Albany,  on  the  15th  of 
January,  1716.  He  was  the  fourth  son  of  Gilbert  Liv 
ingston,  and  his  ancestors  were  highly  respectable,  holding 
a  distinguished  rank  in  New  York,  and  possessing  a  beau 
tiful  tract  of  land  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson.  This  tract, 
since  known  as  the  Manor  of  Livingston,  has  belonged  to 
the  family  from  that  time  to  the  present. 

Philip  Livingston  received  his  education  at  Yale  College, 
where  he  was  graduated  in  1737.  He  soon  after  engaged 
extensively  in  commerce  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
was  very  successful  in  his  transactions.  In  1754,  he  was 
elected  an  alderman,  and  continued  in  the  office  for  nine 
successive  years.  In  1759,  he  was  returned  a  member  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  colony,  where  his  talents  and 
influence  were  most  usefully  employed.  His  views  were 
liberal  and  enlightened,  and  he  did  much  to  improve  the 
commercial  and  agricultural  facilities  of  the  country. 

Previous  to  the  revolution,  it  was  usual  for  the  respec 
tive  colonies  to  have  an  agent  in  England,  to  manage  their 
individual  concerns  with  the  British  government.  This 
agent  was  appointed  by  the  popular  branch  of  the  Assem 
bly.  In  1770,  the  agent  of  the  colony  of  New  York  dying, 
the  celebrated  Edmund  Burke  was  chosen  in  his  stead,  and 
received  for  the  office  a  salary  of  five  hundred  pounds. 
Between  this  gentleman  and  a  committee  of  the  Colonial 
Assembly,  a  correspondence  was  maintained;  and  upon 
their  representations  the  agent  depended  for  a  knowledge 
of  the  state  of  the  colony.  Of  this  committee  Mr.  Liv 
ingston  was  a  member.  From  his  communications  and 
those  of  his  colleagues  Mr.  Burke  doubtless  obtained  that 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  413 

information  of  the  state  of  the  colonies,  which  he  some 
times  brought  forward  to  the  perfect  surprise  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  upon  which  he  often  founded  arguments, 
and  proposed  measures,  which  were  not  to  be  resisted. 

Mr.  Livingston  regarded  with  patriotic  indignation  the 
measures  by  which  the  British  ministry  thought  to  humble 
the  spirit  of  the  colonies.  His  avowed  sentiments,  and  the 
prominent  part  he  had  always  taken  in  favor  of  the  rights  of 
the  colonies,  caused  him  to  be  elected,  in  1774,  a  delegate 
to  the  Continental  Congress.  He  was  also  a  member  of 
the  distinguished  Congress  of  1776,  and  was  among  those 
whose  names  are  enduringly  recorded  on  the  great  charter 
of  their  country's  freedom  and  national  existence.  He  was 
reflected  to  the  same  assembly  the  following  year,  and  was 
also  chosen  a  senator  to  the  state  legislature,  after  the  adop 
tion  of  a  new  constitution.  He  again  took  his  seat  in  Con 
gress,  in  May,  1778 ;  but  his  health  was  shockingly  im 
paired,  and  such  was  the  nature  of  his  disease,  which  was 
a  dropsy  in  the  chest,  that  no  rational  prospect  existed  of 
his  recovery.  Before  his  departure  from  Albany,  he  took 
a  final  farewell  of  his  family  and  friends,  and  expressed  his 
conviction  that  he  should  not  live  to  see  them  again.  His 
anticipations  proved  true.  From  the  period  of  his  return 
to  Congress,  his  decline  was  rapid;  and  he  closed  his 
valuable  life  on  the  12th  of  June,  1778.  Suitable  demon 
strations  of  respect  to  his  memory  were  paid  by  Congress, 
and  his  funeral  was  publicly  attended. 

Mr.  Livingston  married  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Dirck 
Ten  Broeck,  by  whom  he  had  several  children.  His  fam 
ily  has  furnished  many  distinguished  characters.  Mr.  Liv 
ingston  was  amiable  in  his  disposition,  and  a  firm  believer 
in  the  great  truths  of  Christianity.  He  died  respected  and 
esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him. 


THOMAS  LYNCH. 

THOMAS  LYNCH  was  born  on  the  5th  of  August,  1749, 
at  Prince  George's  parish,  in  South  Carolina. 

Before  he  had  reached  the  age  of  thirteen  years,  young 
Lynch  was  sent  to  England  for  his  education.  Having 
passed  some  time  at  the  institution  of  Eton,  he  was  en- 
35* 


414  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

tered  a  member  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  the  de 
grees  of  which  college  he  received  in  due  course.  He 
left  Cambridge  with  a  high  reputation  for  classical  attain 
ments  and  virtues  of  character,  and  entered  his  name 
at  the  Temple,  with  a  view  to  the  profession  of  law. 
After  applying  himself  assiduously  to  the  study  of  jurispru 
dence,  and  enriching  himself,  both  in  mind  and  manners, 
with  the  numberless  accomplishments  of  a  gentleman,  he 
returned  to  South  Carolina,  after  an  absence  of  eight  or 
nine  years. 

In  1775,  on  the  raising  of  the  first  South  Carolina  regi 
ment  of  provincial  regulars,  Mr.  Lynch  was  appointed 
to  the  command  of  a  company.  Unfortunately,  on  his 
march  to  Charleston,  at  the  head  of  his  men,  he  was  at 
tacked  by  a  violent  fever,  which  greatly  injured  his  consti 
tution,  and  from  the  effects  of  which  he  never  afterwards 
wholly  recovered.  He  joined  his  regiment,  but  the  en 
feebled  state  of  his  health  prevented  him  from  performing 
the  exertions  which  he  considered  incumbent  upon  him. 
Added  to  this,  he  received  afflicting  intelligence  of  the 
illness  of  his  father,  at  Philadelphia,  and  resolved  to  make 
arrangements  to  depart  for  that  city.  Upon  applying  for  a 
furlough,  however,  he  was  denied  by  the  commanding  of 
ficer,  Colonel  Gadsden.  But  being  opportunely  elected 
to  Congress,  as  the  successor  of  his  father,  he  was  repaid 
for  his  disappointment,  and  lost  no  time  in  hastening  to 
Philadelphia. 

The  health  of  the  younger  Mr.  Lynch,  soon  after  join 
ing  Congress,  began  to  decline  with  the  most  alarming  ra 
pidity.  He  continued,  however,  his  attendance  upon  that 
body,  until  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had  been 
voted,  and  his  signature  affixed  to  it.  He  then  set  out  for 
Carolina,  in  company  with  his  father ;  but  the  life  of  the 
latter  was  terminated  at  Annapolis,  by  a  second  paralytic 
attack. 

Soon  after  this  afflicting  event,  a  change  of  climate  was 
recommended  to  Mr.  Lynch,  as  presenting  the  only  chance 
of  his  recovery.  He  embarked,  with  his  wife,  on  board  a 
vessel  proceeding  to  St.  Eustatia,  designing  to  proceed  by 
a  circuitous  route  to  the  south  of  France.  From  the  time 
of  their  sailing,  nothing  more  has  been  known  of  their  fate. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.          415 

Various  rumors  for  a  time  were  in  circulation,  which 
served  to  keep  their  friends  in  painful  suspense ;  but  the 
conclusion  finally  adopted  was,  that  the  vessel  must  have 
foundered  at  sea,  and  the  faithful  pair  been  consigned  to  a 
watery  grave. 

THOMAS   M'KEAN. 

THOMAS  M'KEAN  was  of  Irish  descent,  and  born  in  New 
London,  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  19th  of 
March,  1734.  After  completing  the  regular  course  of 
school  instruction,  he  was  entered  as  a  student  at  law,  in 
the  office  of  David  Finney,  who  resided  in  New  Castle,  in 
Delaware.  Before  he  had  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  he  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law,  in  the  Courts 
of  Common  Pleas  for  the  counties  of  New  Castle,  Kent, 
and  Sussex,  and  also  in  the  Supreme  Court.  In  1757,  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  Penn 
sylvania,  and  was  elected  clerk  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

The  political  career  of  Mr.  M'Kean  commenced  in  1762, 
at  which  time  he  was  returned  a  member  of  the  Assembly 
from  the  county  of  New  Castle.  This  county  he  continued 
to  represent  in  the  same  body  for  several  successive  years, 
although  the  last  six  years  of  that  period  he  spent  in 
Philadelphia. 

A  Congress,  usually  called  the  Stamp  Act  Congress, 
assembled  in  New  York  in  1765,  for  the  purpose  of  ob 
taining  a  redress  of  the  grievances  under  which  the  colo 
nies  then  labored.  Of  this  memorable  body  Mr.  M'Kean 
was  a  member,  along  with  James  Otis,  and  other  cele 
brated  men. 

A  short  time  previous  to  the  meeting  of  the  Congress  of 
1774,  Mr.  M'Kean  took  up  his  permanent  residence  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia.  The  people  of  the  lower  coun 
ties  on  the  Delaware  were  desirous  that  he  should  repre 
sent  them  in  that  body,  and  he  was  accordingly  elected  as 
their  delegate.  On  the  3d  of  September,  he  took  his  seat 
in  Congress.  From  this  time  until  the  1st  of  February, 
1783,  a  period  of  eight  years  and  a  half,  he  was  annually 
chosen  a  member  of  the  great  national  council.  At  the 


416  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

same  time,  Mr.  M'Kean  represented  Delaware  in  Congress ; 
he  was  president  of  it  in  1781,  and  from  July,  1777,  was 
the  chief  justice  of  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  M'Kean  was,  from  the  first,  decidedly  in  favor  of 
the  declaration  of  independence.  He  subscribed  his 
name  to  the  original  instrument,  but,  by  some  mistake, 
it  was  omitted  in  the  copy  published  in  the  journals  of 
Congress. 

At  the  time  Congress  passed  the  declaration  of  inde 
pendence,  the  situation  of  Washington  and  his  army,  in 
New  Jersey,  was  extremely  precarious.  On  the  5th  of 
July,  it  was  agreed,  by  several  public  committees  in  Phil 
adelphia,  to  despatch  all  the  associated  militia  of  the  state 
to  the  assistance  of  Washington.  Mr.  M'Kean  was  at 
this  time  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  associated  militia.  A 
few  days  subsequent  to  the  declaration  of  independence, 
he  was  on  his  way  t9  Perth  Amboy,  in  New  Jersey,  at  the 
head  of  his  battalion. 

The  associate  militia  being  at  length  discharged,  Mr. 
M'Kean  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and  was  present  in  Con 
gress  on  the  2d  of  August,  when  the  engrossed  copy  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  signed  by  the  members. 
A  few  days  after  this,  receiving  intelligence  of  his  being 
elected  a  member  of  the  Convention  in  Delaware,  assem 
bled  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  constitution  for  that 
state,  he  departed  for  Dover.  Although  excessively  fa 
tigued  on  his  arrival,  at  the  request  of  a  committee  of 
gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  he  retired  to  his  room  in  the 
public  inn,  where  he  was  employed  the  whole  night  in 
preparing  a  constitution  for  the  future  government  of  the 
state.  This  he  did  without  the  least  assistance,  and  even 
without  the  aid  of  a  book.  At  ten  o'clock  the  next  morn 
ing,  it  was  presented  to  the  Convention,  by  whom  it  was 
unanimously  adopted. 

In  1777,  Mr.  M'Kean  was  chosen  president  of  the  state 
of  Delaware,  and,  during  the  same  year,  was  appointed 
chief  justice  of  Pennsylvania.  The  duties  of  the  latter 
station  he  discharged  with  great  dignity  and  impartiality 
for  twenty-two  years.  At  the  time  of  accepting  these  of 
fices,  he  was  speaker  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  and  mem- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  417 

ber  of  Congress.  He  was  chosen  president  of  Congress  in 
1781 ;  and  his  conduct  in  the  chair  was  highly  honorable 
and  satisfactory. 

Mr.  M'Kean  was  a  delegate  from  Philadelphia,  in  1787, 
to  the  Convention  assembled  to  ratify  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States.  He  was  a  principal  leader  in  this  as 
sembly,  and  was  an  able  and  eloquent  advocate  for  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution ;  declaring  it  to  be,  in  his 
consideration,  "  the  best  the  world  had  yet  seen." 

In  1799,  he  was  elected  a  governor  of  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  his  administration  continued  for  nine 
years.  His  course  was  ultimately  beneficial  to  the  state ; 
but  the  numerous  removals  from  office  of  his  political  op 
ponents  produced  considerable  excitement,  and  perhaps 
placed  his  character  in  an  unamiable  light.  During  the 
years  1807  and  1808,  an  attempt  was  made  to  impeach  him 
of  certain  crimes  and  misdemeanors ;  and  an  inquiry  was 
instituted  by  the  legislature  into  his  official  conduct.  The 
result  was  an  honorable  acquittal  from  the  charges  alleged, 
and  a  total  vindication  of  his  character. 

In  1808,  Mr.  M'Kean  retired  from  public  life,  having 
discharged  the  duties  of  a  great  variety  of  offices  with 
much  ability  and  reputation.  He  died  on  the  24th  of 
June,  1817,  in  the  eighty-third  year  of  his  age. 


ARTHUR   MIDDLETON. 

ARTHUR  MIDDLETON  was  born  in  the  year  1743,  in 
South  Carolina,  near  the  banks  of  the  Ashley.  At  the  age 
of  twelve  years,  he  was  sent  to  the  school  of  Hackney, 
near  London ;  and  two  years  afterwards  was  sent  to  the 
school  of  Westminster.  Here  he  soon  became  a  proficient 
in  classical  literature,  and  gained  the  reputation  of  being 
an  excellent  Greek  scholar.  After  several  years  spent  in 
obtaining  his  education,  and  in  foreign  travel,  Mr.  Middle- 
ton  returned  to  South  Carolina. 

Soon  after  his  return,  he  married,  and  again  embarked 
for  Europe,  accompanied  by  his  wife.  He  possessed  a 
great  fondness  for  travelling,  and  during  this  tour  visited 
many  places  in  England,  and  the  principal  places  of 
France  and  Spain.  In  1773,  Mr.  Middleton  again  re- 


418  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

turned  to  America,  and  settled  on  the  delightful  banks  of 
the  Ashley. 

In  the  spring  of  1775,  Mr.  Arthur  Middleton  was  cho 
sen  one  of  a  secret  committee,  who  were  authorized  to 
place  the  colony  in  a  state  of  defence;  and  in  June,  the 
Provincial  Assembly  of  South  Carolina  appointed  him  a 
member  of  the  council  of  safety.  In  the  following  year, 
he  was  chosen  on  a  committee  to  prepare  a  constitution 
for  the  colony.  Shortly  afterwards,  he  was  elected  a  del 
egate  from  South  Carolina  to  the  Congress  assembled  at 
Philadelphia.  Here  he  had  an  opportunity  of  inscribing 
his  name  on  the  great  charter  of  American  liberty.  At 
the  close  of  the  year  1777,  he  resigned  his  seat,  leaving 
behind  a  character  for  the  purest  patriotism  and  the  most 
fearless  decision. 

In  1778,  Mr.  Middleton  was  elected  to  the  chair  of 
governor  of  South  Carolina,  which  office  had  been  left 
vacant  in  consequence  of  the  resignation  of  John  Rut- 
ledge,  who  had  refused  his  assent  to  the  new  constitution 
formed  by  the  legislature.  But,  candidly  avowing  the 
same  sentiments  with  the  late  governor,  Mr.  Middleton 
conscientiously  refused  to  accept  the  appointment,  under 
the  constitution  which  had  been  adopted.  The  Assem 
bly  proceeded  to  another  choice,  and  elected  Mr.  Lowrides 
to  fill  the  vacancy,  who  gave  his  sanction  to  the  new  con 
stitution. 

In  the  year  1779,  many  of  the  southern  plantations 
were  ravaged  by  the  enemy,  and  that  of  Mr.  Middleton 
did  not  escape.  His  valuable  collection  of  paintings  was 
much  injured,  but  his  family  were  fortunately  absent  from 
the  place.  On  the  surrender  of  Charleston,  Mr.  Middle- 
ton  was  taken  prisoner,  and,  with  several  others,  was  sent 
by  sea  to  St.  Augustine,  in  East  Florida,  where  he  was 
kept  in  confinement  for  nearly  a  year.  At  length,  in 
July,  1781,  he  was  exchanged,  and  proceeded  in  a  cartel 
to  Philadelphia.  On  his  arrival  there,  he  was  appointed 
a  representative  in  Congress,  to  which  office  he  was  also 
elected  the  following  year. 

In  1783,  Mr.  Middleton  declined  accepting  a  seat  in 
Congress,  but  was  afterwards  occasionally  a  member  of  the 
state  legislature.  He  died  on  the  1st  of  January,  1787, 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  419 


LEWIS   MORRIS. 

LEWIS  MORRIS  was  born  at  the  manor  of  Morrisania, 
in  the  state  of  New  York,  in  the  year  1726.  He  was  edu 
cated  at  Yale  College,  of  which  institution  he  received 
the  honors.  On  his  return  home,  he  devoted  himself  to 
agriculture.  When  the  dissensions  with  the  mother  coun 
try  began,  he  was  in  a  most  fortunate  condition ;  with  an 
ample  estate,  a  fine  family,  an  excellent  constitution,  liter 
ary  taste,  and  general  occupations,  of  which  he  was  fond. 
He  renounced  at  once  all  these  comforts  and  attractions, 
in  order  to  assert  the  rights  of  his  country.  He  was  elect 
ed  a  delegate  from  New  York  to  the  Congress  of  1775, 
wherein  he  served  on  the  most  important  committees.  He 
was  placed  on  a  committee  of  which  Washington  was 
chairman,  to  devise  means  to  supply  the  colonies  with  am 
munition  ;  and  was  appointed  to  the  arduous  task  of  de 
taching  the  western  Indians  from  a  coalition  with  Great 
Britain.  On  this  errand,  he  repaired  to  Pittsburg,  and 
acted  with  great  zeal  and  address.  In  the  beginning  of 
1776,  he  resumed  his  seat  in  Congress,  where  he  continued 
a  laborious  and  very  useful  member. 

When  the  subject  of  independence  began  to  be  openly 
talked  of  among  the  people  of  America,  in  none  of  the 
colonies  was  a  greater  unwillingness  to  the  measure  be 
trayed  than  among  the  inhabitants  of  New  York.  There 
were  many,  however,  who  were  the  determined  opposers 
of  all  further  attempts  at  compromise  ;  and  among  the 
latter  was  Mr.  Morris.  When  he  signed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  it  was  at  the  most  obvious  risk  of  his 
rich  and  beautiful  estate,  the  dispersion  of  his  family,  and 
the  ruin  of  his  domestic  enjoyments  and  hopes.  He  man 
ifested  on  the  occasion  a  degree  of  patriotism  and  disin 
terestedness,  which  few  had  it  in  their  power  to  display. 

It  happened  as  was  anticipated.  The  beautiful  manor 
of  Morrisania  was  laid  waste  by  the  hostile  army ;  and  a 
tract  of  wood  land  of  more  than  a  thousand  acres  in  extent 
was  destroyed.  Few  men,  during  the  revolution,  were 
called  to  make  greater  sacrifices  than  Mr.  Morris;  and 
none  could  make  them  more  cheerfully. 

He  quitted  Congress  in   1777,  and  was   afterwards  a 


420  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

member  of  the  state  legislature,  and  a  major-general  of 
militia.  His  latter  years  were  devoted  to  the  pursuit  of 
agriculture,  his  fondness  for  which  was  an  amiable  trait 
in  his  character.  He  died,  very  generally  esteemed,  on 
his  paternal  estate,  in  January,  1798,  at  the  age  of  sev 
enty-one  years. 


ROBERT   MORRIS. 

ROBERT  MORRIS,  the  great  financier  of  the  American 
revolution,  was  born  in  Lancashire,  England,  January, 
1733—4,  O.  S.,  of  respectable  parentage.  His  father  em 
barked  for  America,  and  caused  him  to  follow,  at  the  age 
of  thirteen.  He  received  a  respectable  education,  and,  be 
fore  he  reached  his  fifteenth  year,  was  placed  in  the  count 
ing-house  of  Mr.  Charles  Willing,  at  that  time  one  of  the 
first  merchants  at  Philadelphia.  His  diligence  and  ca 
pacity  gained  him  the  full  confidence  of  Mr.  Willing,  after 
whose  death  he  entered  into  partnership  with  his  son, 
Thomas  Willing,  subsequently  president  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States.  This  connection  lasted  from  the  year 
1754  until  1793,  —  a  period  of  thirty-nine  years. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  American  revolution, 
Mr.  Morris  was  more  extensively  engaged  in  commerce 
than  any  other  merchant  of  Philadelphia.  He  zealously 
opposed  the  encroachments  of  the  British  government  on 
the  liberties  of  the  colonists,  and  embraced  the  popular 
cause,  at  the  imminent  sacrifice  of  his  private  interest  and 
wealth.  He  declared  himself  immediately  against  the 
stamp  act,  signed,  without  hesitation,  the  non-importation 
agreement  of  1765,  and,  in  so  doing,  made  a  direct  sacri 
fice  of  trade. 

In  1775,  Mr.  Morris  was  elected,  by  the  legislature  of 
Pennsylvania,  a  delegate  to  the  second  General  Congress. 
He  was  placed  upon  every  committee  of  ways  and  means, 
and  connected  with  all  the  deliberations  and  arrange 
ments  relative  to  the  navy,  maritime  affairs,  and  financial 
interests.  Besides  aiding  his  country  by  his  talents  for 
business,  his  judgment,  and  his  knowledge,  he  employed 
his  extensive  credit  in  obtaining  loans,  to  a  large  amount, 
for  the  use  of  the  government. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  421 

In  May,  1777,  he  was  elected  a  third  time  to  Congress, 
and  continued  to  be  the  chief  director  of  the  financial  op 
erations  of  the  government.  In  1780,  he  proposed  the 
establishment  of  a  bank,  the  chief  object  of  which  was,  to 
supply  the  army  with  provisions.  He  headed  the  list 
with  a  subscription  of  ten  thousand  pounds ;  and  others 
followed  to  the  amount  of  three  hundred  thousand  pounds. 
The  institution  was  established,  and  continued  until  the 
Bank  of  North  America  went  into  operation,  in  the  fol 
lowing  year. 

In  1781,  Mr.  Morris  was  appointed,  by  Congress,  su 
perintendent  of  finance.  The  state  of  the  treasury,  when 
he  was  appointed  to  its  superintendence,  was  as  bad 
as  possible.  Abroad,  the  public  credit  was  every  moment 
in  danger  of  annihilation.  At  home,  the  greatest  public, 
as  well  as  private,  distress  prevailed.  The  treasury  was 
so  much  in  arrears  to  the  servants  of  the  public  offices, 
that  many  of  them  could  not  without  payment  perform 
their  duties,  but  must  have  gone  to  jail  for  debts  they  had 
contracted  to  enable  them  to  live.  It  was  even  asserted, 
by  some  of  the  members  of  the  board  of  war,  that  they 
had  not  the  means  of  sending  an  express  to  the  army. 
But  the  wasted  and  prostrate  skeleton  of  public  credit 
sprung  to  life  and  action  at  the  reviving  touch  of  Robert 
Morris.  The  face  of  things  was  suddenly  changed. 
Public  and  private  credit  was  restored ;  and  it  has  been 
said,  that  "  the  Americans  owe  as  much  acknowledgment 
to  the  financial  operations  of  Robert  Morris,  as  to  the 
negotiations  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  or  even  the  arms  of 
George  Washington." 

The  establishment  of  the  Bank  of  North  America  was 
one  of  his  first  and  most  beneficial  measures ;  an  institu 
tion  which  he  himself  planned,  and  to  forward  which,  he 
pledged  his  personal  credit  to  an  immense  amount. 

In  1786,  Mr.  Morris  was  chosen  to  the  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania;  and  the  same  year  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Convention  which  framed  the  federal  constitution 
For  the  adoption  of  the  present  system,  he  was  one  of 
the  most  strenuous  advocates.  In  1788,  the  General  As 
sembly  of  Pennsylvania  appointed  him  to  represent  the 
state  in  the  first  Senate  of  the  United  States,  which  as- 
36 


422  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

sembled  in  New  York.  He  was  a  fluent  and  impressive 
speaker,  and  wrote  with  great  ease  and  power.  His 
conversation  was  replete  with  interest  and  instruction. 
When  the  federal  government  was  organized,  Washing 
ton  offered  him  the  post  of  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
which  he  declined ;  and,  being  requested  to  designate  a 
person  for  it,  he  named  General  Hamilton.  At  the  con 
clusion  of  the  war,  he  was  among  the  first  who  engaged 
in  the  East  India  and  China  trade.  He  was,  also,  the 
first  who  made  an  attempt  to  effect  what  is  termed  an  out 
of  season  passage  to  China. 

In  his  latter  days,  Mr.  Morris  embarked  in  vast  land 
speculations,  which  proved  fatal  to  his  fortune.  The  man 
who  had  so  immensely  contributed  to  our  national  exist 
ence  and  independence,  passed  the  closing  years  of  his 
life  in  a  prison  —  a  beautiful  commentary  upon  those  laws 
which  make  no  distinction  between  guilt  and  misfortune, 
and  condemn  the  honest  debtor  to  the  punishment  of  the 
convicted  felon !  He  died  on  the  8th  of  May,  1806,  in  the 
seventy-third  year  of  his  age. 

Until  the  period  of  his  impoverishment,  the  house  of 
Mr.  Morris  was  a  scene  of  the  most  lavish  hospitality.  It 
was  open,  for  nearly  half  a  century,  to  all  the  respectable 
strangers  who  visited  Philadelphia.  He  was  active  in  the 
acquisition  of  money,  but  no  one  more  freely  parted  with 
his  gains.  No  one  pursued  a  more  enlightened  policy,  or 
manifested  through  life  a  greater  degree  of  humanity,  vir 
tue,  energy,  arid  gentlemanly  spirit,  than  Robert  Morris 


JOHN   MORTON. 

JOHN  MORTON  was  born  in  the  county  of  Chester,  (now 
Delaware,)  in  Pennsylvania.  His  ancestors  were  of 
Swedish  extraction ;  and  his  father  died  a  few  months 
previous  to  his  birth. 

About  the  year  1764,  Mr.  Morton  was  sent  as  a  dele 
gate  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  of  which 
he  continued  for  several  years  an  active  and  distinguished 
member.  He  was  also  appointed  to  attend  the  General 
Congress  at  New  York.  In  1766,  he  was  made  sheriff  of 
the  county  in  which  he  resided,  and,  shortly  after,  was  ele- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  423 

vated  to  a  seat  on  the  bench,  in  the  Superior  Court  of 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  deputed  to  the  Congress  of  1774, 
and  continued  to  represent  Pennsylvania  in  that  assem 
bly  through  the  memorable  session  of  1776.  On  the 
question  of  declaring  independence,  in  the  latter  year,  the 
delegation  from  Pennsylvania  being  divided,  Mr.  Morton 
gave  his  casting  vote  in  the  affirmative.  This  was  an  act 
of  great  intrepidity,  under  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
case,  and  placed  upon  him  a  fearful  load  of  responsibility. 
But  he  did  not  hesitate  to  assume  it.  The  enemies  of  the 
measure  were  exasperated  at  his  conduct;  but  on  his 
death-bed,  he  desired  his  attendants  to  tell  his  revilers  that 
the  hour  would  come,  when  it  would  be  acknowledged, 
that  his  vote  in  favor  of  American  independence  was  the 
most  illustrious  act  of  his  life.  It  is  needless  to  observe 
how  fully  and  comprehensively  his  prophetic  annunciation 
has  been  fulfilled. 

In  1777,  Mr.  Morton  assisted  in  organizing  a  system  of 
confederation  for  the  colonies,  and  was  chairman  of  the 
committee  of  the  whole,  at  the  time  when  it  was  agreed  to. 
During  the  same  year,  he  was  seized  with  an  inflammatory 
fever,  and  died  on  the  15th  of  November,  in  the  fifty-fourth 
year  of  his  age.  He  left  behind  a  character  for  piety,  lib 
erality,  and  patriotism,  which  his  actions  are  sufficient  to 
substantiate. 


THOMAS   NELSON,  JUN. 

THOMAS  NELSON  was  born  at  York,  in  Virginia,  on  the 
26th  of  December,  1738.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  was 
sent  to  England,  and  placed  at  a  private  school  in  the 
neighborhood  of  London.  He  was  afterwards  removed 
to  the  University  of  Cambridge,  where  he  enjoyed  the 
instruction  of  the  eminent  Doctor  Porteus,  subsequently 
Bishop  of  London.  About  the  close  of  1761,  he  returned 
to  his  native  country,  and,  in  the  following  year,  married 
the  daughter  of  Philip  Grymes,  Esq.,  of  Brandon.  His 
ample  fortune  enabled  him  to  indulge  his  spirit  of  hospi 
tality  to  its  fullest  extent,  and  to  live  in  a  style  of  unusual 
elegance. 

It  is  not  determined  with  certainty  at  what  period  the 


424  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

political  career  of  Mr.  Nelson  commenced.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  in  1774,  and  during  the 
same  year  was  deputed  to  the  first  General  Convention  of 
the  province,  which  met  at  Williamsburg  on  the  1st  of  Au 
gust.  The  next  year,  he  was  again  returned  a  member  to 
the  General  Convention,  and  introduced  a  resolution  for 
organizing  a  military  force  in  the  province. 

In  July,  1775,  Mr.  Nelson  was  appointed  a  delegate 
from  Virginia  to  the  General  Congress  about  to  assemble 
at  Philadelphia.  He  retained  his  seat  in  this  body  until 
1777.  In  May  of  that  year,  he  was  obliged  to  resign  all 
serious  occupation,  in  consequence  of  a  disease  in  the 
head.  When  relieved  from  this  malady,  his  energies  were 
again  called  into  action,  and  he  was  appointed  brigadier- 
general  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  forces  of  the  com 
monwealth.  In  this  office,  he  rendered  the  most  impor 
tant  service  to  his  country,  and  in  times  of  emergency 
often  advanced  money,  to  carry  forward  the  military  oper 
ations.  In  1779,  he  was  again  chosen  to  Congress ;  but 
a  close  application  to  business  produced  a  recurrence  of 
his  former  complaint,  and  he  was  again  compelled  to  re 
turn  home. 

Soon  after  his  recovery,  General  Nelson  entered  with 
animation  into  several  military  expeditions  against  the 
British,  who,  at  that  time,  were  making  the  Southern 
States  the  chief  theatre  of  war.  It  was  owing  to  his 
measures  that  the  army  was  kept  together,  until  the  cap 
ture  of  Yorktown  terminated  the  war.  For  this  service, 
Governor  Nelson  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  the  ac 
knowledgments  of  Washington,  who,  in  his  general  orders 
of  the  20th  of  October,  1781,  thus  spoke  of  him  :  "  The 
general  would  be  guilty  of  the  highest  ingratitude,  a  crime 
of  which  he  hopes  he  shall  never  be  accused,  if  he  forgot 
to  return  his  sincere  acknowledgments  to  his  excellency, 
Governor  Nelson,  for  the  succors  which  he  received  from 
him,  and  the  militia  under  his  command,  to  whose  activity, 
emulation,  and  bravery,  the  highest  praises  are  due." 

A  month  subsequent  to  the  surrender  of  Lord  Corn- 
wallis,  Governor  Nelson  resigned  his  station  in  conse 
quence  of  ill  health,  and  immediately  afterwards  was  ac 
cused  by  his  enemies  of  having  transcended  his  powers  in 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  425 

acting  without  the  consent  of  his  council;  but  he  was 
honorably  acquitted  by  the  legislature,  before  whom  the 
charge  was  preferred.  He  died  on  the  4th  of  January, 
1789,  just  after  he  had  completed  his  fiftieth  year. 

WILLIAM   PACA. 

WILLIAM  PACA  was  born  on  the  31st  of  October,  1740. 
He  was  the  second  son  of  John  Paca,  a  gentleman  of  large 
estate,  who  resided  in  Hartford  county,  Maryland.  After 
receiving  his  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts  at  the  College  of 
Philadelphia,  in  1759,  he  studied  law,  and,  when  admitted 
to  the  bar,  established  himself  at  Annapolis. 

In  1771,  Mr.  Paca  was  chosen  a  representative  of  the 
county  in  the  legislature.  At  this  time,  much  contention 
existed  between  the  proprietary  government  of  Maryland 
and  the  people.  Mr.  Paca,  who  represented  the  people 
in  this  body,  proved  himself  a  stanch  and  determined 
assertor  of  their  rights,  which  no  one  more  clearly  under 
stood.  He  zealously  opposed  the  avaricious  proceedings 
of  the  proprietor  and  his  partisans,  and  manifested  on  all 
occasions  a  settled  hostility  to  tyranny  and  oppression. 

Mr.  Paca  was  a  delegate  from  Maryland  to  the  Conti 
nental  Congress  of  1774,  and  was  reappointed  to  the 
same  station  until  the  year  1778,  at  the  close  of  which  he 
retired.  He  was  an  open  advocate  for  a  declaration  of 
independence,  as  were  several  of  his  colleagues.  A  ma 
jority  of  the  people  of  Maryland,  however,  were  not  pre 
pared  for  such  a  measure.  A  change  was  afterwards 
effected  among  the  people  in  relation  to  this  subject.  The 
Convention  of  Maryland  recalled  their  prohibitory  instruc 
tions  to  their  delegates ;  and  Mr.  Paca  gladly  received 
permission  to  vote  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own 
fearless  and  unshackled  judgment. 

In  1778,  Mr.  Paca  was  appointed  chief  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Maryland,  an  office  which  he  continued 
to  exercise  with  great  ability  until  1780,  when  he  was 
made,  by  Congress,  chief  judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals 
in  prize  and  admiralty  cases.  In  1782,  he  was  elected 
governor  of  his  native  state.  He  was  distinguished  for 
great  correctness  and  integrity  in  the  discharge  of  the 


426  THF    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

duties  of  this  station,  and  manifested  a  peculiar  regard  for 
the  interests  of  religion  and  literature.  At  the  close  of 
the  year,  he  retired  to  private  life.  In  1786,  he  again  ac 
cepted  the  executive  chair,  and  continued  in  it  for  a  year. 
On  the  organization  of  the  federal  government,  in  1789, 
he  received  from  Washington  the  appointment  of  judge 
of  the  District  Court  ^c  the  United  States  for  Maryland. 
This  office  he  held  until  the  year  1799,  when  he  died,  in 
the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age. 


ROBERT   TREAT   PAINE. 

ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE  was  born  in  Boston,  in  1731. 
At  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  he  became  a  member  of 
Harvard  College,  and,  after  leaving  it,  kept,  for  a  period, 
a  public  school,  the  fortune  of  his  father  having  been 
considerably  reduced.  With  the  view  of  obtaining  more 
ample  means  for  the  maintenance  of  his  parents,  he  also 
made  a  voyage  to  Europe.  Before  entering  on  the  study 
of  the  law,  he  devoted  some  time  to  the  subject  of  the 
ology.  In  1775,  he  acted  as  chaplain  to  the  troops  of  the 
provinces  at  the  northward,  and  afterwards  preached  occa 
sionally  in  other  places.  At  length,  he  applied  himself 
earnestly  to  the  study  of  the  law.  On  being  admitted  to 
the  bar,  he  established  himself  at  Taunton,  in  the  county 
of  Bristol,  where  he  resided  for  many  years.  In  1768, 
he  was  chosen  a  delegate  from  that  town  to  the  Con 
vention  called  by  the  leading  men  of  Boston,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  abrupt  dissolution  of  the  General  Court,  by 
Governor  Bernard. 

In  1770,  Mr.  Paine  was  engaged  in  the  celebrated  trial 
of  Captain  Preston,  and  his  men,  for  the  part  which  they 
acted  in  the  well-known  Boston  Massacre.  On  this  oc 
casion,  in  the  absence  of  the  attorney-general,  he  con 
ducted  the  prosecution  on  the  part  of  the  crown.  He 
managed  the  case  with  great  credit  and  ability,  and  re 
ceived  from  it  a  considerable  degree  of  distinction.  In 
1773,  he  was  elected  a  representative  to  the  General  As 
sembly  from  Taunton,  and  was  afterwards  chosen  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Continental  Congress,  which  met  at  Phila 
delphia.  The  following  year  he  was  reelected. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  427 

Of  the  Congress  of  1776,  Mr.  Paine  was  also  a  member, 
and  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  gave  his  vote  and 
signed  his  name. 

In  1780,  Mr.  Paine  was  sent  to  the  Convention  which 
met  to  deliberate  respecting  a  constitution  for  the  state 
of  Massachusetts ;  and  of  the  committee  which  framed 
that  instrument  he  was  a  conspicuous  member.  Under 
the  government  organized,  he  was  appointed  attorney- 
general,  an  office  which  he  held  until  1790,  when  he  was 
transferred  to  a  seat  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Ju 
dicial  Court.  In  this  station  he  continued  until  his  sev 
enty-third  year.  His  legal  attainments  were  extensive  ; 
and  he  discharged  his  judicial  functions  with  the  most 
rigid  impartiality.  Indeed,  his  strict  fidelity  sometimes 
gave  him  the  reputation  of  unnecessary  severity  ;  but  the 
charge  could  only  have  proceeded  from  the  lawless  and 
licentious.  His  memory  was  uncommonly  retentive  ;  and 
his  conversation  was  marked  by  great  brilliancy  of  wit 
and  quickness  of  apprehension.  If  he  sometimes  indulged 
in  raillery,  he  evinced  no  ill  humor  at  being  the  subject 
of  it  in  his  turn.  He  was  an  excellent  scholar,  and  to 
literary  and  religious  institutions  rendered  important  ser 
vices.  The  death  of  Judge  Paine  occurred  on  the  1 1th 
of  May,  1814 ;  he  having  attained  the  age  of  eighty-four 
years. 

He  was  a  founder  of  the  American  Academy,  estab 
lished  in  Massachusetts  in  1780,  and  continued  his  ser 
vices  to  it  till  his  death.  The  degree  of  doctor  of  laws 
was  conferred  on  him  by  Harvard  College. 


JOHN   PENN. 

JOHN  PENN  was  born  in  Caroline  county,  Virginia,  on 
the  17th  of  May,  1741.  His  early  education  was  greatly 
neglected  ;  and  at  his  father's  death,  1759,  he  became  the 
sole  manager  of  the  fortune  left  him,  which,  though  not 
large,  was  competent. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  was  licensed  as  a  prac 
titioner  of  law.  He  rose  rapidly  into  notice,  and  was 
soon  eminently  distinguished  as  an  advocate. 

In  1774,  Mr.  Penn  moved  to  the  province  of  North 


428  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

Carolina,  where  he  attained  as  high  a  rank  in  his  pro 
fession  as  he  had  done  in  Virginia.  The  following  year, 
he  was  chosen  a  delegate  from  North  Carolina  to  the 
General  Congress,  in  which  body  he  took  his  seat  on  the 
12th  of  October.  He  was  successively  reflected  to  Con 
gress,  in  the  years  1777,  1778,  and  1779,  and  was  re 
spected  for  his  promptitude  and  fidelity  in  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  assigned  him.  He  was  seldom  aosuit  from 
his  seat,  and  was  a  watchful  guardian  of  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  his  constituents.  He  was  urgent  in  forwarding 
the  measures  which  led  to  the  total  emancipation  of  the 
colonies. 

After  the  return  of  peace,  Mr.  Penn  betook  himself  to 
private  retirement.  The  even  tenor  of  his  way  was 
marked  by  few  prominent  incidents  after  this  period. 
He  departed  from  this  world,  September,  1788,  at  the 
age  of  forty-six  years.  He  had  three  children,  two  of 
whom  died  unmarried. 


GEORGE   READ. 

GEORGE  READ  was  born  in  Maryland,  in  the  year  1734. 
Being  designed  by  his  parents  for  one  of  the  learned  pro 
fessions,  he  was  placed  at  a  seminary  at  Chester,  Penn 
sylvania.  Having  there  acquired  the  rudiments  of  the 
languages,  he  was  transferred  to  the  care  of  the  accom 
plished  Dr.  Allison,  with  whom  he  remained  until  his 
seventeenth  year.  He  was  then  placed  in  the  office  of 
John  Morland,  Esq.,  a  lawyer  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
for  the  purpose  of  fitting  himself  for  the  legal  profession. 

In  1753,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  Mr.  Read  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  In  the  year  following,  he  com 
menced  the  practice  of  the  law,  in  the  town  of  New 
Castle.  In  1763,  he  was  appointed  attorney-general  of 
the  three  lower  counties  on  the  Delaware.  In  the  year 
1765,  Mr.  Read  was  elected  a  representative  from  New 
Castle  county  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Delaware,  a 
post  which  he  occupied  for  twelve  years. 

On  the  1st  of  August,  1774,  Mr.  Read  was  chosen  a 
delegate  from  Delaware  to  the  Continental  Congress.  To 
this  station  he  was  annually  reflected,  during  the  whole 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  429 

revolutionary  war.  Mr.  Read  did  not  vote  for  the  dec 
laration  of  independence.  But  when,  at  length,  the 
measure  had  received  the  sanction  of  the  great  national 
council,  and  the  time  arrived  for  signing  the  instrument, 
Mr.  Read  affixed  his  signature  to  it,  with  all  the  cor 
diality  of  those  who  had  voted  in  its  favor. 

Mr.  Read  was  president  of  the  Convention  which 
formed  the  first  constitution  of  the  state  of  Delaware.  In 
1782,  he  accepted  the  appointment  of  judge  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals,  in  admiralty  cases,  an  office  which  he  held 
until  the  abolition  of  the  court.  In  1787,  he  represented 
the  state  of  Delaware,  in  the  Convention  which  framed 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  under  which  he 
was  immediately  chosen  a  member  of  the  Senate.  The 
duties  of  this  exalted  station  he  discharged  till  1793, 
when  he  accepted  of  a  seat  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Delaware,  as  chief  justice.  He  died  in  this 
office,  in  the  autumn  of  1798. 

The  legal  attainments  of  Mr.  Read  were  extensive  ;  and 
his  decisions  are  still  respected  as  precedents  of  no  slight 
authority.  In  private  life  he  was  esteemed  for  an  ex 
panded  benevolence  to  all  around  him. 

CJ3SAR   RODNEY. 

C^SAR  RODNEY  was  a  native  of  Dover,  in  Delaware, 
where  he  was  born  about  the  year  1730.  He  inherited 
from  his  father  a  large  landed  estate.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-eight,  he  was  appointed  high  sheriff  in  the  county 
where  he  resided,  and,  on  the  expiration  of  his  term  of 
service,  was  created  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  a  judge 
of  the  lower  courts.  In  1762,  and  perhaps  at  an  earlier 
date,  he  represented  the  county  of  Kent,  in  the  provincial 
legislature.  In  the  year  1765,  he  was  sent  to  the  first 
General  Congress,  which  assembled  at  New  York,  to 
adopt  the  necessary  measures  for  obtaining  a  repeal  of 
the  stamp  act,  and  other  odious  measures  of  the  British 
ministry. 

In  1769,  Mr.  Rodney  was  elected  speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  an  office  which  he  continued  to  fill  for 
several  years.  About  the  same  time,  he  was  appointed 


430  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

chairman  of  the  committee  of  correspondence  with  the 
other  colonies.  He  was  a  member  of  the  well-known 
Congress  of  1774,  when  he  had  for  his  colleagues 
Thomas  M'Kean  and  George  Read. 

At  the  time  that  the  question  of  independence  came 
before  Congress,  Mr.  Rodney  was  absent,  on  a  tour  of 
duty,  in  the  southern  part  of  Delaware.  Mr.  M'Kean 
and  Mr.  Read,  his  colleagues,  were  divided  upon  the 
subject.  Aware  of  the  importance  of  a  unanimous  vote, 
Mr.  M'Kean  despatched,  at  his  private  expense,  an  express 
into  Delaware,  to  acquaint  Mr.  Rodney  of  the  delicate 
posture  of  affairs,  and  to  hasten  his  return  to  Philadelphia. 
With  great  exertion,  he  arrived  on  the  spot  just  as  the 
members  were  entering  the  door  of  the  State-House,  at 
the  final  discussion  of  the  subject. 

In  the  autumn  of  1776,  a  Convention  was  called  in  Del 
aware,  for  the  purpose  of  framing  a  new  constitution,  and 
of  appointing  delegates  to  the  succeeding  Congress.  In 
this  Convention,  the  influence  of  the  royalists  proved  suffi 
ciently  strong  to  deprive  Mr.  Rodney  of  his  seat  in  Con 
gress.  He  remained,  however,  a  member  of  the  council 
of  safety,  and  of  the  committee  of  inspection,  in  both  of 
which  offices  he  exerted  himself  with  great  diligence.  In 
1777,  he  repaired  in  person  to  the  camp  near  Princeton, 
where  he  remained  for  nearly  two  months,  in  the  most 
active  and  laborious  employment.  During  the  same  year, 
he  was  reappointed  a  delegate  to  Congress,  but,  before 
taking  his  seat,  was  elected  president  of  the  state.  In 
the  latter  office  he  continued  for  about  four  years,  at  the 
close  of  which  period  he  retired  from  public  life.  He  was 
again  elected  to  Congress,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  he 
ever  after  took  his  seat  in  that  body.  A  cancer,  which 
had  afflicted  him  for  some  time,  and  which  had  greatly 
disfigured  his  face,  now  increased  its  ravages,  and,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  year  1783,  brought  him  to  the  grave. 
Mr.  Rodney  was  distinguished  for  a  remarkable  degree  of 
good  humor  and  vivacity,  and,  in  generosity  of  character, 
was  an  ornament  to  human  nature. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  431 


GEORGE   ROSS. 

GEORGE  Ross  was  born  at  New  Castle,  Delaware,  in 
the  year  1 730.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  entered  upon 
the  study  of  the  law,  and,  when  admitted  to  the  bar,  estab 
lished  himself  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania.  Here  he  mar 
ried,  and  devoted  himself  with  great  zeal  to  the  duties  of 
his  profession. 

Mr.  Ross  commenced  his  political  career  in  1768,  when 
he  was  sent  a  representative  to  the  Assembly  of  his  adopt 
ed  state.  Of  this  body  he  continued  a  member  until  the 
year  1774,  when  he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  Conti 
nental  Congress.  To  this  office  he  was  annually  re- 
elected  till  January,  1777,  when  he  retired.  The  high 
sense  entertained,  by  his  constituents,  of  his  public  services 
and  patriotism,  was  expressed,  not  merely  by  thanks,  but 
by  a  present  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  This  offer 
was  respectfully  but  firmly  declined. 

Mr.  Ross  was  an  active  and  influential  member  of  the 
provincial  legislature.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Convention  which  assembled  to  prepare  a  declaration  of 
rights  on  behalf  of  the  state,  and  to  define  what  should 
be  considered  high  treason  against  it.  In  1779,  he  was 
appointed  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Admiralty  for  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania.  In  July  of  the  same  year,  he  died 
of  a  sudden  attack  of  the  gout,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his 
age.  He  left  behind  him  the  reputation  of  a  thorough 
and  skilful  lawyer,  a  consistent  politician,  and  an  esti 
mable  man. 


BENJAMIN   RUSH. 

BENJAMIN  RUSH  was  born  in  Byberry,  Pennsylvania, 
on  the  24th  of  December,  1745.  His  father  died  when  he 
was  only  six  years  of  age,  and  the  care  of  his  education 
devolved  upon  his  mother,  whose  prudent  management  of 
her  son  may  be  learned  from  the  result. 

After  completing  his  preparatory  studies,  he  was  en 
tered,  in  1759,  a  student  in  the  College  of  Princeton.  On 
leaving  college,  he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine, 
under  the  superintendence  of  Dr.  Redman,  of  Philadel- 


432  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

phia.  In  1766,  he  went  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  spent 
two  years  at  the  university  in  that  city,  and  from  which 
he  received  the  degree  of  M.  D.,  in  1768.  The  next 
winter  after  his  graduation  he  passed  in  London,  and, 
having  visited  France,  he  returned,  in  the  autumn  of  the 
same  year,  to  Philadelphia,  and  commenced  the  prac 
tice  of  medicine.  In  1769,  he  was  elected  professor  of 
chemistry  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia ;  and  was  after 
wards  appointed  professor  of  the  institutes  and  practice 
of  medicine,  and  of  clinical  practice,  in  the  same  uni 
versity. 

In  the  year  1793,  Philadelphia  was  visited  by  that  hor 
rible  scourge,  the  yellow  fever.  For  some  time  after  its 
commencement,  no  successful  system  of  management  was 
resorted  to.  Dr.  Rush  afterwards  met  with  a  manuscript, 
which  contained  an  account  of  the  yellow  fever,  as  it  pre 
vailed  in  Virginia,  in  1741,  and  which  was  given  to  him 
by  Dr.  Franklin,  and  had  been  written  by  Dr.  Mitchell,  of 
Virginia.  In  this  manuscript,  the  efficacy  of  powerful 
evacuants  was  urged,  even  in  cases  of  extreme  debility. 
This  plan  Dr.  Rush  adopted,  and  imparted  the  prescrip 
tion  to  the  college  of  physicians.  An  immense  accession 
of  business  was  the  consequence,  and  his  mode  of  treat 
ment  was  wonderfully  successful.  The  following  entry, 
dated  September  10th,  is  found  in  his  note-book  :  "  Thank 
God,  out  of  one  hundred  patients,  whom  I  visited  or  pre 
scribed  for  this  day,  I  have  lost  none." 

Between  the  8th  and  15th  of  September,  Dr.  Rush 
visited  and  prescribed  for  a  hundred  and  a  hundred  and 
twenty  patients  a  day.  In  the  short  intervals  of  business, 
which  he  spent  at  his  meals,  his  house  was  filled  with 
patients,  chiefly  the  poor,  waiting  for  his  gratuitous  ad 
vice.  For  many  weeks  he  seldom  ate  without  prescribing 
for  many  as  he  sat  at  table.  While  thus  endangering  his 
health  and  his  life  by  excess  of  practice,  Dr.  Rush  received 
repeated  letters  from  his  friends  in  the  country,  entreating 
him  to  leave  the  city.  To  one  of  these  letters  he  replied, 
"  that  he  had  resolved  to  stick  to  his  principles,  his  prac 
tice,  and  his  patients,  to  the  last  extremity." 

The  incessant  labors  of  Dr.  Rush,  during  this  awful 
visitation,  nearly  prostrated  his  constitution ;  but  he  was 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  433 

finally  so  far  restored  as  to  resume  the  duties  of  his  pro 
fession.  His  mode  of  treatment  was  also  called  into 
question  by  many  of  his  contemporaries,  notwithstanding 
the  success  which  had  attended  it.  At  length  the  preji> 
dices  against  him  infected  not  only  physicians,  but  a  con 
siderable  part  of  the  community.  The  public  journals 
were  enlisted  against  him,  and  in  numerous  pamphlets 
his  system  was  attacked  with  great  severity.  He  was 
even  called  a  murderer,  and  was  at  length  threatened  to 
be  prosecuted  and  expelled  the  city. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  labors  of  Dr.  Rush  as  a  lec- 
turer  and  practitioner,  he  was  a  voluminous  writer.  His 
printed  works  consist  of  seven  volumes,  six  of  which 
treat  of  medical  subjects,  and  the  other  is  a  collection  of 
essays,  literary,  moral,  and  philosophical.  He  was  a  con 
stant  and  indefatigable  scholar.  He  extracted  so  largely 
from  the  magazine  of  information  accumulated  in  the 
mind  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  that  he  once  mentioned  to  a 
friend  his  intention  of  writing  a  book  with  the  title  of 
Frankliniana,  in  which  he  proposed  to  collect  the  frag 
ments  of  wisdom,  which  he  had  treasured  in  his  men> 
ory,  as  they  fell,  in  conversation,  from  the  lips  of  that 
great  man. 

Doctor  Rush  was  a  member  of  the  celebrated  Congress 
of  1776,  which  declared  these  states  free  and  independ 
ent.  The  impulse  gwjen  to  learning  and  science  by  this 
event  he  used  to  estimate  of  incalculable  value.  In  1777, 
he  was  appointed  physician-general  of  the  military  ho&- 
pital  in  the  middle  department.  In  1787,  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Convention  of  Pennsylvania,  for  the  adop 
tion  of  the  federal  constitution.  This  instrument  re 
ceived  his  warmest  approbation.  For -the  last  fourteen 
years  of  his  life,  he  was  treasurer  for  the  United  States' 
mint,  by  appointment  of  President  Adams. 

Doctor  Rush  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  many  private 
associations,  for  the  advancement  of  human  happiness, 
with  which  Pennsylvania  abounds.  He  led  the  way  in. 
the  establishment  of  the  Philadelphia  Dispensary,  and  was 
the  principal  agent  in  founding  Dickinson  College,  in 
Carlisle.  For  some  years  he  was  president  of  the  Society 
for  the  Abolition  of  Slavery,  and  also  of  the  Philadelphia 
37 


434  THfi    AMERICA*?    POLITICIAN. 

Medical  Society.  He'  was  the  founder  of  the  Philadelphia 
Bible  Society,  and  vice-president  of  the  American  Philo 
sophical  Society.  He  was  an  honorary  member  of  many 
of  the  literary  institutions,  both  of  this  country  and  of  Eu 
rope*.  In  1805,  he  was  honored  by  the  king  of  Prussia 
with  a  medal,  for  his  replies  to  certain  questions  on  the 
yellow  fever.  On  a  similar  account,  he  was  presented 
with  a  gold  medal,  in  1807,  from  the  queen  of  Etruria; 
and  in  1811,  the  emperor  of  Russia  sent  him  a  diamond 
ring,  as  a  testimony  of  his  respect  for  his  medical  char 
acter. 

The  pen  of  Doctor  Rush  was  powerfully  employed 
against  some  of  the  vices  and  habits  of  mankind.  His 
"  Inquiry  into  the  Effects  of  Ardent  Spirits  upon  the  Hu 
man  Body  and  Mind,"  has  been  more  read  than  any  of  his 
works.  He  was  a  brilliant  and  eloquent  lecturer  ;  and  he 
possessed  in  a  high  degree  those  talents  which  engage  the 
heart. 

The  life -of  Doctor  Rush  was  terminated  on  the  19th  of 
April,  1813,  in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  During 
hjs  illness,  which  was  but  of  few  days'  continuance,  his 
house  was  beset  by  crowds  of  citizens;  such  was  the  gen 
eral  anxiety  in  respect  to  this  excellent  man.  When  at 
length  he  died,  the  news  of  his  decease  spread  a  deep  gloom 
over  the  city,  and  expressions  of  profound  sympathy  were 
received  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 


EDWARD   RUTLEDGE. 

EDWARD  RUTLEDGE  was  born  in  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  November,  1749.  After  .receiving  a  respecta 
ble  education  in  the  learned  languages,  he  commenced  the 
study  of  the  law  with  his  elder  brother,  who,  at  that 
time,  was  becoming  the  most  eminent  advocate  at  the 
Charleston  bar. 

When  arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  Edward 
Rutledge  sailed  for  England,  to  complete  his  legal  education. 
In  1773,  he  returned  to  his  native  country,  and  began  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  He  soon  became  distinguished 
for  his  quickness  of  apprehension,  fluency  of  speech,  and 
graceful  delivery.  The  general  estimation-  in  which  his 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  435 

talents  were  held,  was  evinced,  in  1774,  by  his  appointment 
to  the  General  Congress  as  delegate  from  South  Caroling. 
He  was  at  this  time  but  twenty-five  years  of  age. 

In  the  Congress  of  1776,  Mr.  Rutledge  took  a  con 
spicuous  part  in  the  discussions  which  preceded  the  dec 
laration  of  independence.  At  a  subsequent  date,  he  was 
appointed,  with  Doctor  Franklin  and  John  Adams,  a  com 
missioner  to  wait  upon  Lord  Howe,  who  had  requested 
Congress  to  appoint  such  a  committee  to  enter  with  him 
into  negotiations  for  peace.  Mr.  Rutledge"  was  again 
elected  to  Congress  in  1779 ;  but,  in  consequence  of  ill 
health,  he  was  unable  to  reach  the  seat  of  government,  and 
returned  home.  In  1780,  during  the  investment  of  Charles 
ton  by  the  British,  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  enemy,  an.d 
sent  to  St.  Augustine,  where  he  was  detained  nearly  a  year 
before  he  was  exchanged. 

On  the  evacuation  of  Charleston  by  the  British,  he  re 
turned  to  the  place  of  his  nativity,  and,  for  the  space  of 
seventeen  years,  was  successfully  engaged  in  the  practice 
of  his  profession :  rendering,  from  time  to  time,  important 
services  to  the  state,  as  a  member  of  her  legislature.  la 
1798,  he  relinquished  his  station  at  the  bar,  and  was  elected 
chief  magistrate  of  South  Carolina.  He  continue4  to  per 
form  the  duties  of  this  office  until  within  a  short  time  be 
fore  his  death,  which  took  place  on  the  23d  day  of  January, 
1800.  Military  and  other  honors  were  paid  to  his  mem 
ory  f  and  universal  regret  was  expressed  at  his  departure. 


ROGER   SHERMAN. 

ROGER  SHERMAN  was  born  in  Newton,  Massachusetts, 
on  the  19th  of  April,  1721.  He  was  early  apprenticed  to 
a  shoemaker,  and  followed  the  business  of  one  for  some 
time  after  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age.  The  father  of 
Roger  Sherman  died  in  174^  leaving  his  family,  whjch 
was  quite  numerous,  dependent  upon  his  son  for  support, 
He  entered  upon  the  task  with  great  cheerfulness.  TCo<- 
wards  his  mother,  whose  life  was  protracted  to  a  great  age, 
he  always  manifested  the  tenderest  affection-,  and  assisted 
two  of  his  younger  brothers  to  qualify  themselves  for  c^pr- 
gymen. 


436  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

An  elder  brother  had  established  himself  in  New  Mil- 
ford,  Connecticut.  In  1743,  the  family  of  Mf.  Sherman 
removed  to  that  place,  and  he  again  commenced  business 
as  a  shoemaker ;  but,  not  long  after,  he  entered  into  part 
nership  with  his  brother,  whose  occupation  was  that  of  a 
country  merchant.  The  mind  of  Roger  Sherman  was 
invincibly  bent  upon  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  The 
variety  and  extent  of  his  attainments,  even  at.  this  time, 
were  almost  incredible.  He  soon  became  known  in  the 
county  of  Litchfield,  where  he  resided,  as  a  man  of  supe 
rior  talents,  and  of  unusual  skill  in  the  science  of  mathe 
matics.  At  the  early  age  of  twenty-four,  he  was  appointed 
to  the  office  of  county  surveyor.  At  this  time,  he  had  also 
made-  no  trifling  advances  in  the  science  of  astronomy. 
As  early  as  1748,  he  supplied  the  astronomical  calculations 
for  an  almanac,  published  in  New  York,  and  continued  to 
furnish  them  for  several  succeeding  years. 

In  1749,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Hartwell,  of 
Stoughton,  in  Massachusetts.  After  her  decease,  in  1760, 
he  married  Miss  Rebecca  Prescott,  of  Danvers,  in  the  same 
state.  By  these  wives  he  had  fifteen  children. 

In  1754,  Mr.  Sherman  was  admitted  as  an  attorney  to 
the  bar.  The  circumstance  which  led  to  his  study  of  the 
profession  was  merely  accidental,  and  an  accident  which, 
in  a  mind  less  decided  and  persevering  than  that  of  Sher 
man,  would  have  passed  away  without  improvement.  He 
became  rapidly  distinguished  as  a  counsellor,  and,  the  year, 
following  his  admission  to  the  bar,  was  appointed  a  justice 
of  the  peace  for  New  Milford,  which  town  he  also  repre 
sented  in  the  Colonial  Assembly.  In  1759,  he  was  ap 
pointed  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  coun 
ty  of  Litchfield,  which  office  he  held  for  two  years.  At  the 
expiration  of  that  time,  he  became  a  resident  of  New  Ha 
ven,  of  which  town  he  was  soon  after  appointed  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  and  often  represented  it  in  the  Colonial  As 
sembly.  In  1765,  he  was  made  a  judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  and  about  the  same  time  was  appointed 
treasurer  of  Yale  College,  which  institution  bestowed  Upon 
him  the  honorary  degree  of  master  of  arts. 

In  1766,  Mr.  Sherman  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Up 
per  House,  in  the/  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut  j  and 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  437 

during  the  same  year  he  was  appointed  a  judge  of  the 
Superior  Court.  He  continued  a  member  of  the  Upper 
House  for  nineteen  years,  until  1785,  when,  tfre  two  offices 
which  he  held  being  considered  incompatible,  he  relin 
quished  his  seat  at  the  council  board,  preferring  his  station 
as  a  judge.  The  latter  office  he  continued  to  exercise  un 
til  1789,  when  he  resigned  it  on  being  choseji  to  Congress, 
under  the  federal  constitution. 

Mr.  Sherman  was  a  delegate  to  the  celebrated  Congress 
of  1774,  ajid  continued  uninterruptedly  a  member  of  that 
body  until  his  death,  in  1793.  His  services  during  his 
congressional  career  were  many  and  important.  He  was 
employed  on  numerous  committees,  and  was  indefatigable 
in  the  investigation  of  complicated  and  difficult  subjects. 
In  1776,  he  received  the  most  flattering  testimony  of  the 
high  respect  in  which  he  was  held,  in  being  associated 
with  Adams,  Jefferson,  Franklin,  and  Livingston,  in  the 
responsible  duty  of  preparing  the  Declaration!  of  Independ 
ence.  In  the  state  where  he  resjded,  Mr.  Sherman  con 
tinued  to  receive  repeated  demonstrations  of  the  esteem 
with  which  his  fellow-citizens  regarded  him. 

Under  the  new  constitution,  Mr.  Sherman  was  elected 
a  representative  to  Congress  from  the  state  of  Connecti 
cut.  At  the  expiration  of  two  years,  a  vacancy  occurring 
in  the  Senate,  he  was  elevated  to  a  seat  in  that  body.  In 
this  office  he  died,  on  the  23d  of  July,  1793,  in  the  seventy- 
third  year  of  his  age. 

A  predominant  trait  in  the  character  of  Roger  Sherman 
was  his  practical  \visdom.  Although  inferior  to  many  in 
rapidity  of  genius,  he  was  surpassed  by  none  in  clearness 
of  apprehension,  energy  of  mind,  or  honesty  of  action.  A 
remark  of  Jefferson  bears  testimony  to  the  strength  and 
soundness  of  his  intellect.  "  That  is  Sherman,"  said  he 
to  a  friend,  to  whom  he  was  pointing  out  the  most  re 
markable  men  of  Congress,  "  a  man  who  never  said  a 
foolish  thing  in  his  life."  Not  less  honorable  to  the  in 
tegrity  of  his  character  is  the  remark  of  Fisher  Ames,  who 
was  wont  to  say,  "  If  I  am  absent  during  the  discussion 
of  a  subject,  and  consequently  know  not  on  which  side  to 
vote,  I  always  look  at  Roger  Sherman,  for  I  am  sure  if  I 
vote  vnth  him  I  shall  vqte  right" 
37* 


438  THE  AMERICAN  POLITICIAN. 


JAMES   SMITH. 

JAMES  SMITH  was  born  in  Ireland,  but  at  what  period 
has  not  been  ascertained.  His  father  was  a  respectable 
farmer,  who  removed  to  America  with  a  numerous  family, 
and  settled  on  the  west  side  of  the  Susquehanna  River. 

After  being  qualified  for  the  profession  of  the  law,  Mr. 
Smith  took  up  his  residence,  as  a  lawyer  and  surveyor,  near 
the  present  town  of  Shippensburg ;  but  he  subsequently 
removed  to  the  flourishing  village  of  York,  where  he  con 
tinued  the  practice  of  his  profession  during  the  remain- 
der  of  his  life.  On  the  commencement  of  the  difficulties 
with  the  mother  country,  he  resolutely  enlisted  himself  on 
the  patriotic  side,  and  became  an  uncompromising  oppo- 
ser  of  the  insulting  aggressions  of  the  British  government. 
He  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  all  the  patriotic  meetings  of 
the  province,  and  was  always  in  favor  of  the  most  vigor 
ous  and  decided  measures,  He  was  the  first  one  who 
raised  a  volunteer  corps  in  Pennsylvania,  in  opposition  to 
the  armies  of  Great  Britain,  and  was  elected  captain,  and 
afterwards  colonel  of  a  regiment.  In  January,  1775,  he 
was  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  for  the  province  of  Penn- 
.sylvania,  and  concurred  in  the  spirited  declarations  of  that 
assembly. 

In  the  month  of  July,  a  Convention  was  held  in  Phila 
delphia,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  new  constitution  for 
Pennsylvania.  Of  this  body  Mr.  Smith  was  a  member, 
and  by  it  he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  Congress.  He  con 
tinued  to  represent  his  constituents  for  several  years  in  the 
great  national  assembly,  and  was  always  active  and  ef 
ficient  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties.  On  withdrawing 
from  Congress,  in  November,  1788,  he  resumed  his  pro 
fessional  pursuits,  which  he  continued  to  exercise  until 
the  year  1800,  when  he  withdrew  from  the  bar,  having 
practised  the  law  for  about  sixty  years.  He  died  in  the 
year  1806.  

RICHARD    STOCKTON. 

RICHARD  STOCKTON  was  born  near  Princeton,  New  Jer 
sey,  on  the  1st  day  of  October,  1730,  and  received  his 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  439 

education  at  the  college  in  his  native  state,  where  he  grad 
uated  at  the  age  of  eighteen. 

On  leaving  college,  Mr.  Stockton  commenced  the  study 
of  the  law,  and,  on  his  admission  to  the  bar,  rose  quickly 
to  an  enviable  distinction.  About  the  year  1767,  he  re 
linquished  his  professional  business  for  the  purpose  of 
visiting  Great  Britain.  During  his  tour  through  the  united 
countries,  he  was  received  with  great  attention.  On  visit 
ing  Edinburgh,  he  was  complimented  with  a  public  dinner, 
by  the  authorities  of  that  city,  the  freedom  of  which  was 
unanimously  conferred  upon  him.  During  his  stay  in 
Scotland,  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  induce  the  Reverend 
Dr.  Witherspoon,  of  Paisley,  to  remove  to  America,  and 
accept  the  presidency  of  New  Jersey  College. 

On  his  return  to  this  country,  Mr.  Stockton  stood  high 
in  the  royal  favor,  and  was  appointed  one-  of  the  royal 
judges  oif  the  province,  and  a  member  of  the  Executive 
Council.  But  on  the  commencement  of  the  aggravating 
system  of  oppression  by  which  the  mother  country  hoped 
to  humiliate  the  colonists,  he  separated  himself  from  the 
royal  Council,  and  joyfully  concurred  in  all  the  liberal 
measures  of  the  day.  On  the  21st  of  June,  1776,  he  was 
elected  a  delegate  to  the  General  Congress,  then  sitting  in 
Philadelphia.  Here  he  discharged,  with  fidelity  and  en 
ergy,  all  the  duties  assigned  him  ;  and,  on  the  agitatipn  of 
the  great  question  of  independence,  he  addressed  the 
house  in  its  behalf. 

On  the  30th  of  November,  Mr.  Stockton  was  unfortu 
nately  taken  prisoner  by  a  party  of  refugee  royalists.  He 
was  dragged  from  his  bed  at  night,  and  carried  to  New 
York.  Here  he  was  treated  with  the  utmost  rigor  and  in 
dignity.  Congress  remonstrated  with  General  Howe  in 
his  behalf,  and  he  was  finally  released  from  his  captivity ; 
but  the  iron  had  entered  his  soul.  His  constitution  had 
experienced  an  irreparable  shock,  and  his  ample  fortune 
was  completely  reduced.  He  continued  to  languish  for 
several  years,  and  at  length  died,  at  his  residence  in 
Princeton,  on  the  28th  of  February,  1781,  in  the  fifty- 
third  year  of  his  age.  His  character  was  in  every  respect 
estimable.  He  possessed  a  cultivated  taste  for  literature, 
and  was  a  polished  and  eloquent  speaker, 


440  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN, 


THOMAS  STONE. 

THOMAS  STONE  was  born  in  Charles  county,  Maryland, 
in  1743.  He  was  a  descendant  of  William  Stone,  who 
was  governor  of  Maryland  during  the  protectorate  of 
Oliver  Cromwell. 

After  acquiring  a  tolerable  acquaintance  with  the  learn 
ed  languages,  he  entered  upon  the  study  of  the  law. 
Having  obtained  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  profession, 
he  commenced  practice  in  Fredericktown,  Maryland,  Af 
ter  residing  at  this  place  two  years,  he  removed  to  Charles 
county,  in  the  same  state.  At  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  he 
received  by  marriage  the  sum  of  one  thousand  pounds 
sterling,  and  with  it  purchased  a  farm  near  the  village  of 
Port  Tobacco,  upon  which  he  continued  to  reside  dgring 
the  revolutionary  struggle.  Although  his  business  was  by 
no  means  lucrative,  nor  his  fortune  considerable,  his  well- 
known  honesty  and  ability  caused  him  to  be  sent  a  dele 
gate  to  the  Congress  of  1776^,  to  which  body  he  was  re- 
elected  for  several  subsequent  years*  After  the  Maryland 
legislature  had  relieved  him  and  his  colleagues  of  the  re 
strictions  which  bound  them,  he  joyfully  affixed  his  -name 
to  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

Mr.  Stone  was  a  member  of  the  committee  appointed  by 
Congress  to.  prepare  articles  of  confederation;  and  the 
manner  in  which  he  discharged  the  duties  devolving  upon 
him  in  that  station,  was  highly  satisfactory.  After  seeing 
the  confederation  finally  agreed  upon  in  Congress,  he  de 
clined  a  reappointment  to  that  body,  but  became  a  mem* 
ber  of  the  legislature  of  his  native  state.  In  1783,  "he  was 
again  chosen  to  Congress,  and,  in  the  session  of  1784, 
acted  for  some  time  as  president  pro  tcmpore.  On  the 
adjournment  of  Congress  this  year,  he  retired  from  that 
body,  and  engaged  actively  in  the  dudes  of  his  profession. 
His  practice  now  became  lucrative  in  Annapolis,  whither 
he  had  removed ;  and  he  soon  rose  to  distinction  at  the 
bar.  As  an  advocate,  he  excelled  in  strength  of  argu 
ment,  and  was  often  employed  in  cases  of  great  difficulty, 

Mr.  Stone  died  on  the  5th  of  October,  1787,  in  the  forty- 
fifth  year  of  his  age,  and  while  on  the  point  of  embarking 
for  Europe,  for  the  benefit  of  his  health. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  441 

GEORGE  TAYLOR, 

GEORGE  TAYLOR  was  born  in  Ireland,  in  the  year  1716, 
At  a  suitable  age,  he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine ; 
but,  his  genius  not  being  adapted  to  his  profession,  he  re 
linquished  his  medical  studies,  and  soon  after  set  sail  for 
America.  On  his  arrival,  he  was  entirely  destitute  of 
money,  and  was  obliged  to  resort  to  manual  labor  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  his  voyage-.  He  was  first  engaged  in  the 
iron  works  of  Mr.  Savage,  at  Durham,  on  the  Delaware, 
and  was  afterwards  taken  into  his  counting-room  as  a 
clerk.  In  this  situation  he  rendered  himself  very  useful, 
and,  at  length,  upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Savage,  he  became 
connected  in  marriage  with  his  widow,  and  consequently 
the  proprietor  of  the  whole  establishment.  In  a  few  years, 
the  fortune  of  Mr.  Taylor  was  considerably  augmented. 
He  now  purchased  a  handsome  estate,  near  the  River  Le- 
high,  in  the  county  of  Northampton,  where  he  erected  a 
spacious  mansion,  and  took  up  his  permanent  abode.  In 
1764,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Assem 
bly,  where  he  soon  became  conspicuous.  In  this  body  he 
continued  to  represent  the  county  of  Northampton  until 
1770 ;  but  he  afterwards  returned  to  Durham,  to  repair  the 
losses  of  fortune,  to  which  the  change  of  his  place  of  busi 
ness  had  led, 

In  October,  1775,  he  was  again  chosen  to  the  Provin 
cial  Assembly,  and,  the  following  month,  was  appointed,  in 
connection  with  others,  to  report  a  set  of  instructions  to 
the  delegates  which  the  Assembly  had  just  appointed  to  the 
Continental  Congress.  Pennsylvania  was  for  some  time 
opposed  to  an  immediate  rupture  with  the  mother  country  ; 
and  it  was  only  by  the  casting  vote  of  Mr.  Morton,  that  her 
consent  to  the  measure  of  independence  was  secured.  On 
the  20th  of  July,  1776,  the  Pennsylvania  Convention  pro 
ceeded  to  a  new  choice  of  representatives.  Mr.  Morton, 
Dr.  Franklin,  Mr.  Morris,  and  Mr.  Wilson,  who  had  voted 
in  favor  of  the  declaration  of  independence,  were  reflected. 
Those  who  had  opposed  it  were  at  this  time  dropped,  and 
the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  in  their  place,  viz., 
Mr.  Taylor,  Mr.  Ross,  Mr.  Clymer,  Dr.  Rush,  and  Mr, 
Smith, 


442  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

Mr.  Taylor  retired  from  Congress  in  1777,  and  died 
on  the  23d  of  February,  1781,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of 
his  age,  

MATTHEW  THORNTON. 

MATTHEW  THOHIQTON  was  born  in  Ireland,  about  the 
year  1714.  When  he  was  two  or  three  years  old,  his 
father  emigrated  to  America,  and,  after  a  residence  of  a 
few  years  at  Wiscasset,  in  Maine,  he  removed  to  Worces 
ter,  in  Massachusetts.  Here  young  Thornton  received  a 
respectable  education,  and  subsequently  commenced^  tlie 
study  of  medicine.  Soon  after  completing  his  prepaYatory 
course,  he  removed  to  Londonderry,  in  New  Hampshire, 
where  he  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and 
soon  became  distinguished,  both  as  a  physician  and  a 
surgeon. 

In  1745,  Dr.  Thornton  was  appointed  to  accompany  the 
New  Hampshire  troops,  as  a  surgeon,  in  the  well-known 
expedition,  planned  by  Governor  Shirley,  against  Cape 
Breton.  His  professional  abilities  were  here  creditably 
tested  ;  for  of  the  corps  of  five  hundred  men,  of  whom  he 
had  charge  as  a  physician,  only  six  died  of  sickness,  previ 
ous  to  the  surrender  of  Louisburg,  notwithstanding  the 
hardships  to  which  they  were  exposed. 

Under  the  royal  government,  Dr.  Thornton  was  invested 
with  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace,  and  commissioned 
as  colonel  of  the  militia.  But  when  that  government  was 
dissolved,  Colonel  Thornton  abjured  the  British  interest, 
and  adhered  to  the  patriotic  cause.  He  was  president  of 
a  Provincial  Convention,  assembled  at  Exeter,  in  1775. 

The  next  year  he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  signed  his  name  to  the  engrossed  copy  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  During  the  same  year»  he 
was  appointed  -chief  justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleijs, 
and  shortly  after  was  raised  to  the  office  of  judge  of  the 
Superior  Court  of  New  Hampshire,  in  which  office  he  con 
tinued  until  1782.  Two  years  previous  to  this  latter  date, 
he  had  purchased  a  farm,  pleasantly  situated  on  the  banks 
of  the  Merrimack,  near  Exeter,  where  he  principally  de 
voted  himself  to  agriculture.  He  Was  a  member  of  the 
General  Court  for  one  or  two  years,  and  a  senator  in  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  443 

state  legislature,  as  also  a  member  of  the  Conine^  in  1785, 
under  President  Langdon.  Dr.  Thornton  died  while  on  a 
visit  at  Newburyport,  on  the  24th  of  June,  1803,  in  the 
eighty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

He  was  a  man  of  strong  powers  of  mind,  and  was  re 
markably  entertaining  and  instructive  in  conversation., 


GEORGE  WALTON. 

GEORGE  WALTON  was  born  In  the  county  of  Frederick, 
Virginia,  about  the  year  1740.  He  was  early  apprenticed 
to  a  carpenter,  who,  being  a  man  of  contracted  views,  not 
only  kept  him  hard  at  work  during  the  day,  but  refused 
him  the  privilege  of  a  candle,  by  which  to  read  at  night. 
Young  Walton,  however,  was  resolutely  £ent  on  the  ac 
quisition  of  knowledge,  ahtl  contrived  to  collect,  at  his 
leisure  moments,  pieces  of  lightwood,  which  served,  at 
night,  in  place  of  a  candle.  His  application  was  intense, 
and  his  attainments  were  rapid  and  valuable. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  apprenticeship,  he  removed  to 
the  province-  of  Georgia,  and,  entering  upon  the  study  of 
the  law,  commenced,-  in  1774,  the  practice  of  that  profes=- 
sion.  At  this  time,  the  British  government  was  in  the  ex 
ercise  of  full  power  in  Georgia.  Mr.  Walton  was  one  of 
the,  mosj;  zealous  of  the  few  advocates  of  the  patriotic 
cause.  He  was  a  member  of  the  committee  which  pre 
pared  a  petition  to  the  king ;  and,  in  1776,  he  was  elected 
a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress.  In  this  station  he 
continued  to  represent  the  state  of  Georgia,  until  October, 
1781.  He  was  extremely  useful  on  many  important  com 
mittees,  and  always  evinced  much  zeal  and  intelligence  in 
the  discharge  of  his  duties. 

In  December,  1778,  Mr.  Walton  received  a  colonel's 
commission  in  the  militia,  and  was  present  at  the  sur 
render  of  Savannah  to  the  British  arms.  During  the 
obstinate  defence  of  that  place,  he  was  wounded  in  the 
thigh,  in  consequence  of  which,  he  fell  from  his  horse,  and 
was  made  a  prisoner  by  the  British  troops.  A  brigadier- 
general  was  demanded  in  exchange  for  him;  but,  in 
September,  1779,  he  was  exchanged  for  a  captain  in  the 
navy.  In  the  following  month,  he  was  chosen  governor  of 


444 


THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


the  state,  and,  in  the  succeeding  January,  was  elected  a 
member  of  Congress  for  two  years. 

The  remainder  of  Mr.  Walton's  life  was  rilled  up  in  the 
discharge  of  the  most  respectable  offices  within  the  gift  of 
the  state.  He  was  at  six  different  times  chosen  a  repre 
sentative  to  Congress ;  twice  appointed  governor  of  the 
state;  once  a  senator  of  the  United  States;  and  at  four 
different  periods,  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Courts.  He 
was  a  man  of  no  ordinary  talents,  and  was  conspicuous 
for  his  uniform  devotion  to  liberty.  He  died  on  the  2d 
of  February,  1804. 


WILLIAM  WHIPPLE. 

WILLIAM  WHIPPLE  was  born  at  Kittery,  Maine,  in  the 
year  1730.  His  education  was  limited,  and,  on  leaving 
school,  he  entered  on  board  a  merchant  vessel,  and  devoted 
himself  for  several  years  to  commercial  pursuits.  His  voy 
ages  were  chiefly  to  the  West  Indies,  and,  proving  success 
ful,  he  acquired  a  considerable  fortune. 

In  1759,  he  relinquished  his  seafaring  occupation,  and 
commenced  business  at  Portsmouth.  He  entered  with 
spirit  into  the  controversy  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
colonies,  and,  in-  1775,  represented  the  town  of  Ports 
mouth  in  the  Provincial  Congress,  which  met  at  Exeter. 
In  1776,  he  was  appointed  a  delegate  to  the  General  Con 
gress,  of  which  body  he  continued  a  member,  until  Sep 
tember,  1779. 

In  the  year  1777,  while  Mr.  Whipple  was  a  member  of 
Congress,  the  appointment  of  brigadier-general  was  be 
stowed  upon  him  and  the  celebrated  John  Stark,  by  the 
Assembly  of  New  Hampshire.  He  was  present  at  the  des 
perate  battle  of  Saratoga;  and  his  meritorious  conduct  on 
the  occasion  was  rewarded  by  his  being  jointly  appointed, 
with  Colonel  Wilkinson,  as  the  representative  of  General 
Gates,  to  meet  two  officers  from  General  Burgoyne,  and 
settle  the  articles  of  capitulation.  He  was  also  selected 
as  one  of  the  officers  who  were  appointed  to  conduct 
the  surrendered  army  to  their  destined  encampment,  on 
Winter  Hill,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston.  In  1778,  General 
Whipple,  with  a  detachment  of  New  Hampshire  militia,. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  445 

was  engaged,  under  General  Sullivan,  in  executing  a  plan 
for  the  retaking  of  Rhode  Island  from  the  British. 

During  the  remaining  years  of  his  life,  Mr.  W'hipple 
filled  many  important  offices.  -As  a  representative  to  the 
state  legislature,  he  was  highly  popular;  and,  in  1782,  he 
received  the  appointment  of  receiver  of  public  moneys 
for  New  Hampshire,  from  Mr.  Morris,  the  superintendent 
of  finance.  He  relinquished  the  office  in  1784,  and  con 
tinued  in  the  station  of  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of 
Judicature.  The  duties  of  the  latter  office  he  discharged 
until  the  28th  of  November,  1785,  when  he  expired,  in  the 
fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 


WILLIAM   WILLIAMS. 

WILLIAM  WILLIAMS  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Connecticut, 
on  the  8th  of  April,  1731.  At  the  age  6f  sixteen,  he  en 
tered  Harvard  College,  and,  after  the  usual  period,  was 
honorably  graduated.  For  some  time  after  his  return  home, 
he  devoted  himself  to  theological  studies,  under  the  direc 
tion  of  his  father.  In  1755,  he  belonged  to  the  staff  of 
Colonel  Ephraim  Williams,  the  founder  of  Williams  Col 
lege  in  Massachusetts,  and  was  present  at  the  celebrated 
battle  fought  at  the  head  of  Lake  -George,  between  the 
provincial  troops  and  the  French  Canadians.  During  the 
contest,  Colonel  Williams  was  shot  through  the  head  by 
an  Indian,  and  killed. 

Soon  after  this  occurrence,  William  Williams  returned 
to  Lebanon,  and,  in  1756,  was  chosen  clerk  of  the  town  — 
an  office  which  he  continued  to  hold  for  the  space  of  forty- 
five  years.  About  the  same  time,  he  was  appointed  a  rep 
resentative  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut. .  In 
this  latter  capacity  he  served  for  many  years,  during  which 
he  was  often  appointed  clerk  of  the  house,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  filled  the  speaker's  chair.  In  1780,  he  was  trans 
ferred  to  the  Upper  House,'  being  elected  an  assistant  —  an 
office  which  he  held  for  twenty-four  years. 

Mr.  Williams  was  a  member  of  the  Continental  Con 
gress,  during  the  years  1776  and  1777,  and  took  an  hon 
orable  part  in  the  deliberations  of  that  body.  During  his 
campaign  at  the  north,  he  had  been  disgusted  with  the 
38 


446  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

British  commanders,  on  account  of  the  haughtiness  of  their 
conduct,  and  the  little  attachment  which  they  manifested 
for  his  native  country.  The  impression  was  powerful  and 
enduring,  and  led  him  to  form  a  sincere  and  devoted  wish 
for  the  independence  of  America. 

The  following  anecdote  has  been  related  as  a  proof  of 
the  patriotic  spirit  of  Mr.  Williams  :  Towards  the  close 
of  the  year  1776,  the  military  affairs  of  the  colonies  wore 
a  gloomy  aspect.  In  this  doubtful  state  of  things,  the 
council  of  safety  for  Connecticut  was  called  to  sit  at  Leb 
anon.  Two  of  the  members  of  this  council,  William  Hill- 
house  and  Benjamin  Huntington,  quartered  with  Mr.  Wil 
liams.  One  evening,  the  conversation  turned  upon  the 
gloomy  state  of  the  country,  and  the  probability,  that,  after 
all,  success  would  crown  the  British  arms.  "Well,"  said 
Mr.  Williams,  with  great  calmness,  "  if  they  succeed,  it  is 
pretty  evident  wftat  will  be  my  fate.  I  have  done  much 
to  prosecute  the  contest,  and  one  thing  I  have  done  which 
the  British  will  never  pardon  —  I  have  signed  the  Decla 
ration  of  Independence.  I  shall  be  hanged."  Mr.  Hill- 
house  expressed  a  confident  hope  that  America  would  yet 
be  successful.  Mr.  Huntington  observed,  that,  in  case  of 
ill  success,  lie  should  be  exempt  from  the  gallows,  as  his 
signature  was  not  attached  to  the  Declaration,  nor  had  he 
written  any  thing  against  the  British  government.  To 
this  Mr.  Williams  replied,  his  eye  kindling  as  he  spoke, 
"  Then,  sir,  you  deserve  to  be  hanged,  for  not  having  done 
your  duty." 

Mr.  Williams  died  on  the  2d  day  of  August,  1811,  in 
the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age. 


JAMES   WILSON. 

JAMES  WILSON  was  born  in  Scotland,  about  the  year 
1742.  He  received  an  excellent  education,  studying  suc 
cessively  at  Glasgow,  St.  Andrews,  arid  Edinburgh,  and 
enjoying  the  instruction  of  the  distinguished  Dr.  Blair,  and 
the  not  less  celebrated  Dr.  Watts. 

After  completing  his  studies,  he  embarked  for  America, 
and  arrived  at  Philadelphia  early  in  the  year  1766.  Here 
he  served  some  time  in  the  capacity  of  tutor  in  the  college 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  447 

of  the  city,  and  acquired  the  reputation  of  being  a  fine 
classical  scholar.  He  shortly  after  entered  the  law  office 
of  Mr.  John  Dickinson,  and,  at  the  expiration  of  two 
years,  commenced  practice,  first  at  Reading  and  Carlisle, 
then  at  Annapolis,  and  finally  at  Philadelphia,  where 
he  continued  to  reside  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
At  an  early  period,  Mr.  Wilson  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
colonies.  He  was  an  American  in  principle  from  the 
time  that  he  landed  on  the  American  shore.  He  became 
a  member  of  the  Provincial  Convention  of  Pennsylvania, 
and,  in  1775,  wns  unanimously  elected  a  delegate  to  Con 
gress.  His  standing,  during  the  whole  course  of  his  at 
tendance  on  this  body,  was  deservedly  high.  He  evinced 
great  ability  and  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  his  numerous 
duties,  and  voted  in  favor  of  independence,  in  opposition 
to  a  majority  of  his  colleagues. 

The  high  estimation  in  which  Mr.  Wilson  was  held, 
may  be  learned  from  his  receiving  the  appointment  of 
advocate-general  for  the  French  government,  in  the  United 
States.  He  continued  to  hold  this  office,  which  was  both 
arduous  and  delicate,  for  several  years,  at  the  close  of 
which,  the  king  of  France  handsomely  rewarded  him  by 
a  gift  of  ten  thousand  livres.  About  the  year  1782,  Mr. 
Wilson  was  appointed  a  counsellor  and  agent  for  Penn 
sylvania,  in  the  great  controversy  between  that  state  and 
the  state  of  Connecticut,  relating  to  certain  lands  within 
the  charter  boundary  of  Pennsylvania.  He  discovered 
much  legal  knowledge  and  tact  in  the  management  of  this 
business  ;  and  the  question  was  finally  settled  in  favor  of 
Pennsylvania. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  celebrated  Convention  of 
1787,  which  assembled  in  Philadelphia,  for  the  purpose 
of  forming  the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  During 
the  long  deliberations  on  this  instrument,  he  rendered 
the  most  important  services.  He  was  on  the  committee 
which  reported  the  draught  of  the  constitution,  and  did 
much  to  settle,  upon  just  principles,  the  great  and  impor 
tant  points  which  naturally  arose  in  the  formation  of  a 
new  (Tovernment. 

When  the  state  Convention  of  Pennsylvania  assembled 
to  ratify  the  federal  constitution,  Mr.  Wrilson  was  re- 


448  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

turned  a  member  of  that  body;  and,  as  he  was  the  only 
one  who  had  assisted  in  forming  that  instrument,  it  de 
volved  upon  him  to  explain  to  the  Convention  the  princi 
ples  upon  which  it  was  founded,  and  the  great  objects 
which  it  had  in  view. 

In  1789,  Mr.  Wilson  was  appointed,  by  Washington,  a 
judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  under  the  federal  constitu 
tion.  .  In  this  office  he  continued  until  his  ueath,  which 
occurred  on  the  28th  of  August,  1798,  at  Edenton,  in 
North  Carolina,  while  on  a  circuit  attending  to  his  judicial 
duties.  Mr.  Wilson  was  twice  married ;  the  first  time  to 
a  daughter  of  William  Bird,  of  Berks  county,  and  the  sec 
ond  time  to  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Ellis  Gray,  of  Boston. 


JOHN    WITHERSPOON. 

JOHN  WITHERSPOON,  alike  distinguished  as  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  and  a  patriot  of  the  revolution,  was  born 
in  the  parish  of  Yester,  a  few  miles  from  Edinburgh,  on 
the  5th  of  February,  1722.  He  was  lineally  descended 
from  John  Knox,  the  celebrated  Scottish  reformer,  and 
was  sent  at  an  early  age  to  the  public  school  at  Hadding- 
ton,  where  he  applied  himself  closely  to  the  study  of  clas 
sical  literature. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  was  removed  to  the  Univer 
sity  of  Edinburgh  ;  and,  on  completing  his  theological 
studies,  he  was  ordained  and  settled  in  the  parish  of 
Beith,  in  the  west  of  Scotland. 

Doctor  Witherspoon  left  behind  him  a  sphere  of  great 
usefulness  and  respectability,  in  retiring  from  his  native 
land.  He  arrived  in  America  in  August,  1768,  and  in 
the  same  month  was  inaugurated  president  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey.  His  exertions  .in  raising  the  character 
and  increasing  the  funds  of  this  institution,  were  success 
ful  and  indefatigable. 

On  the  occurrence  of  the  American  war,  the  college 
was  broken  up,  and  the  officers  and  students  were  dis 
persed.  Doctor  Witherspoon  now  assumed  a  new  atti 
tude  before  the  American  public.  On  becoming  a  citizen 
of  the  country,  he  warmly  espoused  her  cause  against  the 
British  ministry.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Convention 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  449 

which  formed  the  republican  constitution  of  New  Jersey, 
and  proved  himself  as  able  a  politician  as  he  was  known 
to  be  philosopher  and  divine.  Early  in  the  year  1776, 
he  was  chosen  a  representative  to  the  General  Congress, 
by  the  people  of  New  Jersey.  He  took  a  part  in  the  de 
liberations  on  the  question  of  independence,  for  which  he 
was  a  warm  advocate.  To  a  gentleman,  who  declared 
that  the  country  was  not  yet  ripe  for  a  declaration  of 
independence,  he  replied,  "  Sir,  in  my  judgment,  the 
country  is  not  only  ripe,  but  rotting." 

For  the  space  of  seven  years,  Doctor  Witherspoon 
continued  a  delegate  from  New  Jersey  to  the  Continental 
Congress.  Few  men  acted  with  more  energy  or  promp 
titude,  or  attended  more  closely  and  faithfully  than  he  to 
the  duties  of  his  station. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1779,  Doctor  Witherspoon  vol 
untarily  retired  from  Congress,  and  resigned  the  care  and 
instruction  of  the  students  to  another.  His  name,  how 
ever,  continued  to  add  celebrity  to  the  institution  over 
which  he  had  so  creditably  presided.  But  he  did  not 
remain  long  in  repose.  In  1781,  he  was  again  chosen  to 
Congress,  and,  in  1783,  he  embarked  for  England,  with 
the  view  of  promoting  the  interests  of  the  college,  for 
which  he  had  already  done  so  much.  He  returned  to 
America  in  1784,  and  again  withdrew  from  active  life. 

Doctor  Witherspoon  was  an  admirable  model  for  a 
young  preacher.  "  A  profound  theologian,  perspicuous 
and  simple  in  his  manner;  a  universal  scholar,  ac 
quainted  with  human  nature  ;  a  grave,  dignified,  solemn 
speaker,  - — he  brought  all  the  advantages  derived  from 
these  sources,  to  the  illustration  and  enforcement  of 
divine  truth.  His  social  qualities  rendered  him  one  of 
the  most  companionable  of  men." 

Doctor  Witherspoon  was  twice  married  ;  the  first  time 
in  Scotland,  at  an  early  age,  to  a  lady  of  the  name  of 
Montgomery  ;  and  the  second  time,  at  the  age  of  seventy 
years,  to  a  lady  who  was  only  twenty-three.  He  had 
several  children?  who  all  passed,  or  are  pissing,  honora 
bly  through  life.  He  died  on  the  15th  day  of  November, 
1794,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age.  His  works 
have  been  collected  in  four  volumes,  octavo. 
38* 


450  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 


OLIVER   WOLCOTT. 

OLIVER  WOLCOTT  was  born  in  Connecticut,  in  1726. 
His  family  was  ancient  and  distinguished;  and  his  an 
cestors  successively  held  a  long  list"  of  honorable  offices 
in  the  state.  He  was  graduated  at,  Yale  College,  in  1747, 
and  the  same  year  received  a  commission  as  captain  in 
the  army,  in  the  French  war.  At  the  head  of  a  company, 
which  was  raised  by  his  own  exertions,  he  proceeded  to 
the  defence  of  the  northern  frontiers,  where  he  continued 
until  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

At  this  time,  he  returned  to  his  native  state,  and  entered 
upon  the  study  of  medicine.  He  never  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  the  profession,  however,  in  consequence  of 
receiving  the  appointment  of  sheriff  of  the  county  of 
Litchfield.  In  1774,  he  was  elected  an  assistant  in  the 
Council  of  the  state,  and  continued  in  the  office  till  1786., 
He  was  also  for  some  time  chief  judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  for  the  county,  and  judge  of  the  Court  of 
Probate  for  the  district  of  Litchfield.  In  1776,  he  was 
chosen  a  delegate  from  Connecticut  to  the  national  Con 
gress,  which  assembled  at  Philadelphia.  He  participated 
in  the  deliberations  of  that  body,  and  had  the  honor  of 
recording  his  name  in  favor  of  the  declaration  of  inde 
pendence. 

From  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  that  measure  until 
1786,  he  was  either  in  attendance  upon  Congress,  in  the 
field  in  defence  of  his  country,  or,  as  a  commissioner  of 
Indian  affairs  for  the  northern  department,  assisting  in 
settling  the  terms,  of  peace  with  the  Six  Nations.  In 
1786,  he  was  chosen  lieutenant-governor  of  Connecticut, 
an  office  which  he  continued  to  .hold  for  ten  years,  at  the 
expiration  of  which  he  w'as  raised  to  the  chief  magistracy 
of  the  state.  He  died  on  the  1st  of  December,  1797,  in 
the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Wolcott  was  possessed  of  great  resolution  of  char 
acter,  and  his  attainments  in  literature  were  of  a  superior 
order.  He  was  also  distinguished  -for  his  Jove  of  order  and 
religion.  In  1755,  he  was  married  to  a  Miss  Collins,  of 
Guilford,  an  estimable  woman,  with  whom  he  enjoyed 
much  domestic  felicity,  for  the  space  of  forty  years. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES.  451 


GEORGE  WYTHE. 

GEORGE  WYTHE  was  born  in  'the  county  of  Elizabeth 
City,  Virginia,  in  the  year  1726.  His  mother,  who  was 
a  woman  of  superior  acquirements,  instructed  him  in  the 
learned  languages,  and  he  made  considerable  progress  in 
several  of  the  solid  sciences,  and  in  polite  literature.  Before 
he  became  of  age,  he  was  deprived  of  both  his  parents ; 
and,  inheriting  considerable  property,  he  became  addict 
ed,  for  several  years,  to  dissipated  courses  and  habits  of 
profligacy.  But,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  he  abandoned  en 
tirely  his  youthful  follies,  and  applied  himself  with  inde 
fatigable  industry  to  study,  never  relapsing  into  any  indul 
gence  inconsistent  with  a  manly  and  virtuous  character. 

Having  studied  the  profession  of  law,  he  soon  attained 
a  high  reputation  at  the  bar,  and  was  appointed  from  his 
native  county  to  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Burgesses.  He 
took  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  proceedings  of  this  assem 
bly,  and  some  of  the  most  eloquent  state  papers  of  the 
time  were  drawn  up  by  him.  The  remonstrance  to  the 
House  of  Commons,  which  was  of  a  remarkably  fearless 
and  independent  tone,  was  the  production  of  his  pen.  By 
his  patriotic  firmness  and  zeal,  he  powerfully  contributed 
to  the  ultimate  success  of  his  country. 

In  1775,  Mr.  Wythe  was  elected  a  delegate  from  Vir 
ginia  to  the  Continental  Congress  in  Philadelphia.  He 
assisted  in  bringing  forward  and  urging  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  affixed  his  name  to  that  deathless 
instrument.  During  this  latter  year,  he  was  appointed,  in 
connection  with  Thomas  Jefferson,  Edward  Pendleton,  and 
others,  to  revise  the  laws  of  the  state  of  Virginia.  In  the 
year  1777,  Mr.  Wythe  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  House 
of  Delegates,  and  during  the  same  year  was  made  judge 
of  the  High  Court  of  Chancery.  On  the  new  organization 
of  the  Court  of  Equity,  in  a  subsequent  year,  he  was  ap 
pointed  sole  chancellor,  a  station  which  he  filled,  with 
great  ability,  for  more  than  twenty  years. 

In  the  course  of  the  revolution,  Mr.  Wythe  suffered 
much  in  respect  to  his  property.  By  judicious  manage 
ment,  however,  he  contrived  to  retrieve  his  fortune,  and 
preserve  his  credit  unimpaired.  Of  the  Convention  of 


452  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

1787,  appointed  to  revise  the  federal  constitution,  he  was 
an  efficient  member.  During  the  debates,  he  acted  for 
the  most  part  as  chairman.  He  was  a  warm  advocate 
for  the  constitution,  and  esteemed  it  the  surest  guaranty 
of  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  country.  He  died  on 
the  8th  of  June,  1806,  in  the  eighty -first  year  of  his  age, 
after  a  short  but  very  excruciating  sickness.  By  his  last 
will  and  testament,  Mr.  Wythe  bequeathed  his  valuable 
library  and  philosophical  apparatus  to  his  friend,  Mr.  Jef 
ferson,  and  distributed  the  remainder  of  his  little  property 
among  the  grandchildren  of  his  sister,  and  the  slaves  whom 
he  had  set  free. 


SELECT  LIVES 

OF 

PERSONS  DISTINGUISHED  IN  AMERICAN  HISTORY, 


AMES,  FISHER,  one  of  the  most  eloquent  of  Ameri 
can  writers  and  statesmen,  was  born  at  Dedham,  in  Mas 
sachusetts,  in  the  year  1758.  He  was  educated  at  Harvard 
College,  where  he  received  his  degree  in  1774.  About 
seven  years  afterwards,  he  began  the  practice  of  the  law, 
and  an  opportunity  soon  occurred  for  the  display  of  his 
superior  qualifications  both  as  a  speaker  and  essay-writer. 
He  distinguished  himself  as  a  member  of  the  Massachu 
setts  Convention  for  ratifying  the  constitution  in  1788, 
and  from  this  body  passed  to  the  House  of  Representatives 
in  the  state  legislature.  Soon  after,  he  was  elected  the 
first  representative  of  the  Suffolk  district  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  where  he  remained  with  the  highest 
honor  during  the  eight  years  cf  Washington's  administra 
tion.  On  the  retirement  of  the  first  president,  Mr.  Ames 
returned  to  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  his  native 
town.  During  the  remaining  years  of  his  life,  his  health 
was  very  much  impaired ;  Lut  his  mind  still  continued 


SELECT    LIVES,  453 

deeply  interested  in  politics,  and  he  published  a  consider 
able  number  of  essays  on  the  most  stirring  topics  of  the 
day.  He  died  in  1808.  In  the  following  year,  his  works 
were  issued  in  one  volume  octavo,  prefaced  by  a  biograph 
ical  notice  from  the  pen  of  his  friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Kirk- 
land. 

ALLEN,  ETHAN,  Ja  brigadier-general  in  the  revolu 
tionary  army,  was  born  in  Salisbury,  Connecticut,  but  was 
educated  principally  in  Vermont.  In  1775,  soon  after  the 
battle  of  Lexington,  he  collected  a  body  of  about  three 
hundred  Green  Mountain  boys,  as  they  were  called,  and 
marched  against  the  fortresses  of  Ticonderoga  and  Crown 
Point ;  and  in  each  of  these  enterprises  he  was  successful. 
He  was  shortly  after  taken  prisoner  and  sent  to  England. 
Of  the  events  of  his  captivity  he  has  himself  given  an  in 
teresting  narrative.  On  release  from  his  confinement,  he 
repaired  to  the  head-quarters  of  General  Washington, 
where  he  was  received  with  much  respect.  As  his  health 
was  much  injured,  he  returned  to  Vermont,  after  having 
made  an  offer  of  his  services  to  the  commander-in-chief 
in  case  of  his  recovery.  He  died  suddenly  at  Colchester, 
in  1789.  Among  other  publications,  Allen  was  the  author 
of  a  work  entitled  Allen's  Theology,  or  the  Oracles  of 
Reason,  the  first  formal  attack  upon  the  Christian  religion 
issued  in  the  United  States.  He  was  a  man  of  an  exceed 
ingly  strong  mind,  but  entirely  rough  and  uneducated. 

ALEXANDER,  WILLIAM,  a  major-general  in  the 
American  army,  during  the  revolutionary  war,  was  born 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  but  passed  a  portion  of  his  life 
in  New  Jersey.  He  acted  an  important  part  throughout 
the  revolution,  and  distinguished  himself  particularly  in 
the  battles  of  Long  Island,  Germantown,  and  Monmouth. 
He  died  at  Albany,  in  1783,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  years, 
leaving  behind  him  the  reputation  of  a  brave  officer  and  a 
learned  man. 

ARNOLD,  BENEDICT,  known  for  his  distinguished 
services  and  daring  treachery  in  the  American  revolu 
tion,  was  born  in  Connecticut,  of  an  obscure  parentage, 
and  received  an  education  suitable  to  his  humble  condi 
tion.  Eager  for  renown,  and  greedy  of  money,  he  em 
braced  the  cause  of  his  countrymen  at  an  early  period, 


454  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

and  took  the  command  of  a  company  of  volunteers  at 
New  Haven.  He  soon  won  a  high  military  reputation, 
and  was  employed  by  Washington  in  expeditions  that  re 
quired  the  highest  skill  and  courage,  and  placed  in  the 
command  of  posts  of  the  highest  importance.  When  the 
English  evacuated  Philadelphia,  Arnold  was  directed  to 
take  possession  of  that  city  with  some  troops  of  the  Penn 
sylvania  line.  Here  he  was  guilty  of  the  most  profligate 
extravagance  and  the  meanest  peculation.  Charges  were 
preferred  against  him ;  he  was  tried  before  a  court-martial, 
arid  condemned  to  be  reprimanded  by  the  commander-in- 
chief.  He  immediately  quitted  the  army,  and  thenceforth 
nourished  an  implacable  hatred  against  the  cause  which  he 
had  so  brilliantly  defended.  Having  subsequently  entered 
into  a  correspondence  with  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  arid  a  di 
rect  communication  with  the  English  general  having  been 
established,  it  was  agreed  between  them  that  Arnold 
should  dissemble  his  real  feelings,  and  make  every  effort  to 
obtain  a  command  from  General  Washington.  He  was 
but  too  successful,  and  the  fortress  of  West  Point,  a  mili 
tary  station  of  very  great  importance,  was  confidently  in 
trusted  to  him.  This  fortress  he  bargained  with  General 
Clinton  to  deliver  into  his  hands ;  and  the  price  of  his 
treachery  was  the  promise  of  30,000  pounds  sterling,  and 
the  rank  of  brigadier-general  in  the  British  army.  The 
treason  was  discovered  by  the  accidental  arrest  of  Andre, 
the  agent  of  the  British  general  in  effecting  the  negotia 
tion.  Arnold  escaped  with  difficulty  on  board  a  British 
ship  of  war,  and  on  the  conclusion  of  the  war  was  reward 
ed  by  his  employers  with  a  pension.  He  died  in  London 
in  1801. 

ANDRE,  JOHN ;  an  adjutant-general  in  the  British 
army  in  North  America  dur.'ng  the  revolutionary  war. 
Being  employed  to  negotiate  with  Arnold  the  delivery  of 
the  works  at  West  Point,  he  was  apprehended  in  disguise 
within  the  American  lines.  He  was  condemned  as  a  spy 
from  the  enemy,  and,  according  to  the  established  usages 
of  war,  was  executed  in  1780,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine 
years.  A  monument  has  been  erected  to  his  memory  in 
Westminster  Abbey.  He  is  the  author  of  a  poem  entitled 
The  Cow  Chase, 


SELECT    LIVES.  455 

BULL,  WILLIAM,  M.  D.,  was  the  first  white  person 
born  in  South  Carolina,  and  is  supposed  to  be  the  first 
American  who  obtained  a  degree  in  medicine.  He  was  a 
pupil  of  the  great  Boerhaave,  and  acquired  some  literary 
and  professional  distinction.  In  1734,  he  defended  and 
published,  at  the  University  of  Leyden,  his  inaugural  thesis 
De  Colica  Pictorurn.  After  returning  from  Europe  to  his 
native  state,  he  was  successively  a  member  of  the  Council, 
speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  lieutenant- 
governor.  When  the  British  troops  removed  from  South 
Carolina  in  1782,  he  accompanied  them  to  England,  and 
died  in  London,  in  1791,  in  the  eighty-second  year  of 
his  age. 

BOONE,  DANIEL,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in 
Kentucky,  was  born  in  Virginia,  and  was  from  infancy  ad 
dicted  to  hunting  in  the  woods.  He  set  out  on  an  expedi 
tion  to  explore  the  region  of  Kentucky,  in  May,  1769,  with 
five  companions.  After  meeting  with  a  variety  of  adven 
tures,  Boone  was  left  with  his  brother,  the  only  white  men 
in  the  wilderness.  They  passed  the  winter  in  a  cabin,  and, 
in  the  summer  of  1770,  traversed  the  country  to  the  Cum 
berland  River.  In  September,  1773,  Boone  commenced 
his  removal  to  Kentucky,  with  his  own  and  five  other 
families.  He  was  joined  by  forty  men,  who  put  themselves 
under  his  direction ;  but,  being  attacked  by  the  Indians, 
the  whole  party  returned  to  the  settlements  on  Clinch 
River.  Boone  was  afterwards  employed,  by  a  company  of 
North  Carolina,  to  buy,  from  the  Indians,  lands  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Kentucky  River.  In  April,  1775,  he  built  a  fort 
at  Saltspring,  where  Boonesborough  is  now  situated.  Here 
he  sustained  several  sieges  from  the  Indians,  and  was  once 
taken  prisoner  by  them,  while  hunting,  with  a  number  of 
his  men.  In  1782,  the  depredations  of  the  savages  in 
creased  to  an  alarming  extent,  and  Boone,  with  other  mi 
litia  officers,  collected  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  men, 
and  went  in  pursuit  of  a  large  body,  who  had  marched 
beyond  the  Blue  Licks,  forty  miles  from  Lexington.  From 
that  time  till  1793,  he  resided  alternately  in  Kentucky 
and  Virginia.  In  that  year,  having  received  a  grant  of 
two  thousand  acres  of  land  from  the  Spanish  authorities, 
he  removed  to  Upper  Louisiana,  with  his  children  and 


456  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

followers,  who  were  presented  with  eight  hundred  acres 
each.  He  settled  with  them  at  Charette,  on  the  Missouri 
River,  where  he  followed  his  usual  course  of  life,  hunting 
and  trapping  bears,  till  September,  1822,  when  he  died  in 
the  eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  He  expired  while  on  his 
knees,  taking  aim  at  some  object,  and  was  found  in  that 
position,  with  his  gun  resting  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree. 

BOUDINOT,  ELIAS,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  Hugue 
nots,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  1740.  He  received  a  lib 
eral  education,  and  entered  into  the  practice  of  the  law  in 
New  Jersey,  where  he  soon  rose  to  considerable  eminence. 
In  1777,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  Congress,  and,  in 
1782,  was  elected  president  of  that  body.  On  the  return 
of  peace,  he  resumed  his  profession,  but,  in  1789,  was 
elected  to  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States,  which  he  continued  to  occupy  for  six  years. 
He  was  then  appointed,  by  Washington,  director  of  the  na 
tional  mint,  in  which  office  he  remained  for  about  twelve 
years.  Resigning  this  office,  he  retired  to  private  life, 
and  resided  from  that  time  in  Burlington,  New  Jersey. 
Here  he  passed  his  time  in  literary  pursuits,  liberal  hospi 
tality,  and  in  discharging  all  the  duties  of  an  expansive 
and  ever-active  benevolence.  Being  possessed  of  an  am 
ple  fortune,  he  made  munificent  donations  to  various 
charitable  and  theological  institutions,  and  was  one  of  the 
earliest  and  most  efficient  friends  of  the  American  Bible 
Society.  Of  this  institution  he  was  the  first  president,  and 
it  was  particularly  the  object  of  his  princely  bounty.  He 
died  in  October,  1821. 

BALDWIN,  ABRAHAM,  eminent  as  a  statesman, 
and  president  of  the  University  of  Georgia,  was  graduated 
at  Yale  College,  in  1772.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Con 
vention  which  formed  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  in  1787,  and  held  a  seat  successively  in  both  houses 
of  Congress.  He  died  at  Washington,  in  1807. 

BARLOW,  JOEL,  an  American  poet  and  diplomatist, 
was  born  in  Reading,  in  Connecticut,  about  the  year  1755. 
His  father  died  while  he  was  yet  a  lad  at  school,  and  left 
him  little  more  than  sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  a  liberal  education.  He  was  first  placed  at  Dartmouth 
College,  Hew  Hampshire,  then  in  its  infancy,  and,  after  a 


SELECT    LIVES.  457 

very  short  residence  there,  removed  to  Yale  College,  New 
Haven.  From  this  institution  he  received  a  degree  in 
1778,  when  he  first  came  before  the  public  in  his  poetical 
character,  by  reciting  an  original  poem,  which  was  soon 
after  published.  On  leaving  college,  he  was  successively 
a  chaplain  in  the  revolutionary  army,  an  editor,  a  booksell 
er,  a  lawyer,  and  a  merchant.  He  next  visited  England, 
and  published,  in  London,  the  first  part  of  Advice  to  the 
Privileged  Orders ;  and,  in  the  succeeding  year,  a  poem 
called  the  Conspiracy  of  Kings.  In  the  latter  p.art  of 
1792,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  deputies  from  the  Lon 
don  Constitutional  Society  to  present  an  address  to  the 
National  Convention  of  France.  Information  of  the  notice 
which  the  British  government  had  taken  of  this  mission, 
led  him  to  think  that  it  would  be  unsafe  to  return  to  Eng 
land  ;  and  he  continued  to  reside  in  Paris  for  about  three 
years.  It  was  about  this  time  that  he  composed  his  most 
popular  poem,  entitled  Hasty  Pudding.  He  was  subse 
quently  appointed  consul  for  the  United  States  at  Algiers, 
with  powers  to  negotiate  a  peace  with  the  dey,  and  to  re 
deem  all  American  citizens  held  in  slavery  on  the  coast  of 
Barbary.  After  discharging  these  duties,  he  returned  to 
Paris,  and,  again  engaging  in  trade,  amassed  a  considerable 
fortune.  In  1805,  he  returned  to  his  native  country,  and 
fixed  his  residence  at  Washington,  where  he  displayed  a 
liberal  hospitality,  and  lived  on  terms  of  intimacy  with 
most  of  our  distinguished  statesmen.  He  now  devoted 
himself  to  the  publication  of  the  Columbiad,  which  was 
based  upon  a  poem  written  while  he  was  in  the  army,  and 
published  soon  after  the  close  of  the  war,  under  the  title 
of  the  Vision  of  Columbus.  This  was  issued  in  a  style 
of  elegance  which  few  works,  either  American  or  Euro 
pean,  have  ever  equalled.  In  1811,  he  was  appointed 
minister  to  France,  and,  in  October  of  the  following  year, 
was  invited  to  a  conference  with  the  emperor  Napoleon  at 
Wilna.  He  immediately  set  off  on  this  mission,  travelling 
day  and  night ;  but,  sinking  under  the  fatigue,  and  want  of 
food  and  sleep  to  which  he  was  obliged  to  submit,  he  fell 
into  a  state  of  debility  and  torpor  from  which  he  never 
recovered.  He  died  in  December,  1812,  at  Zarnawica,  a 
village  in  Poland,  near  Cracow. 
39 


458  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

BOWDOIN,  JAMES,  a  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
was  born  at  Boston,  in  the  year  1727,  and  was  graduated 
at  Harvard  College,  in  1745.  He  took  an  early  stand 
against  the  encroachments  of  the  British  government  upon 
the  provincial  rights,  and,  in  1774,  was  elected  a  delegate 
to  the  first  Congress.  The  state  of  his  health  prevented 
his  attendance,  and  his  place  was  afterwards  filled  by  Mr. 
Hancock.  In  1778,  he  was  chosen  president  of  the  con 
vention  which  formed  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts, 
and,  in  1785,  was  chosen  governor  of  that  state.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  convention  assembled 
to  deliberate  on  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  exerted  himself  in  its  favor.  He  was 
the  first  president  of  the  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
established  at  Boston  in  1780,  and  was  admitted  a  member 
of  several  foreign  societies  of  distinction.  He  died  at 
Boston,  in  1790. 

BIDDLE,  NICHOLAS,  an  American  naval  officer, 
was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  1750.  He  entered  the  British 
fleet  in  1770,  having  previously  served  several  years  as  a 
seaman  on  board  merchant  ships.  On  the  commencement 
of  hostilities  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country, 
he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and  received  from  Congress 
the  captaincy  of  the  Andrew  Doria,  a  brig  of  fourteen  guns, 
employed  in  the  expedition  against  New  Providence.  To 
wards  the  close  of  1776,  he  received  command  of  the 
Randolph,  a  new  frigate  of  thirty-two  guns,  with  which  he 
soon  captured  a  Jamaica  fleet  of  four  sail,  richly  laden. 
This  prize  he  carried  into  Charleston,  and  was  soon  after 
furnished  by  the  government  of  that  town  with  four  ad 
ditional  vessels,  to  attack  several  British  cruisers,  at  that 
time  harassing  the  commerce  of  the  vicinity.  He  fell  in 
with  the  royal  line  of  battle  ship  Yarmouth,  of  sixty-four 
guns,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1778,  and,  after  an  action  of 
twenty  minutes,  perished,  with  all  his  crew  except  four,  by 
the  blowing  up  of  the  ship. 

BRADDOCK,  EDWARD,  major-general  of  the  British 
army,  and  commander  of  the  detachment  engaged  in  the 
expedition  against  the  French  on  the  River  Ohio,  in  1755, 
arrived  in  Virginia  in  February  of  that  year,  and  in  the 
spring  marched  against  Fort  Du  Quesne.  On  his  march 


SELECT    LIVES.  459 

thither,  he  fell  into  an  amhuscade  of  the  Indians,  by 
which  he  lost  nearly  one  half  of  his  troops,  and  received 
himself  a  mortal  wound. 

BAYARD,  JAMES  A.,  an  eminent  American  lawyer 
and  politician,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  1767,  and  edu 
cated  at  Princeton  College.  In  the  year  1784,  he  engaged 
in  the  study  of  the  law,  and,  on  admission  to  the  bar,  settled 
in  the  state  of  Delaware,  where  he  soon  acquired  practice 
and  consideration.  He  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  Congress 
towards  the  close  of  the  administration  of  Mr.  Adams,  and 
first  particularly  distinguished  himself  in  conducting  the 
impeachment  of  senator  Blount.  In  1804,  he  was  elected  to 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  by  the  legislature  of  Dela 
ware,  and  remained  for  several-years  a  conspicuous  member 
of  that  assembly.  In  1813,  he  was  appointed,  by  President 
Madison,  one  of  the  ministers  to  conclude  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  Great  Britain,  and  assisted  in  the  successful 
negotiations  at  Ghent,  in  the  following  year.  He  then  re 
ceived  the  appointment  of  minister  to  the  court  of  St.  Pe 
tersburg  ;  but  an  alarming  illness  induced  him  to  return 
immediately  to  the  United  States.  He  died  soon  after  his 
arrival  home,  in  July,  1815. 

BARNEY,  JOSHUA,  a  distinguished  naval  com 
mander  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  was  born  at 
Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  1759.  He  went  to  sea  at  a  very 
early  age ;  and,  when  the  war  commenced  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  colonies,  Barney  offered  his  services  to 
the  latter,  and  obtained  the  situation  of  master's  mate  in 
the  sloop  of  war  Hornet.  During  the  war,  he  was  several 
times  taken  prisoner  by  the  enemy,  and  displayed,  on 
numerous  occasions,  great  valor  and  enterprise.  In  1795, 
he  received  the  commission  of  captain  in  the  French 
service,  but  in  1800,  resigned  his  command,  and  returned 
to  America.  In  1812,  when  war  was  declared  against 
Great  Britain,  he  offered  his  services  to  the  general  gov 
ernment,  and  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  flotilla 
for  the  defence  of  the  Chesapeake.  While  in  this  sit 
uation,  during  the  summer  of  1814,  he  kept  up  an  active 
warfare  with  the  enemy ;  and  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  he 
was  severely  wounded  in  a  land  engagement  near  Bladens- 
burg.  In  the  following  year,  he  was  sent  on  a  mission  to 


460  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

Europe.  He  died  at  Pittsburg,  in  1818,  in  the  sixtieth 
year  of  his  ao-e. 

BROWN,  JOHN,  was  born  in  1736,  in  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  and  was  a  leader  of  the  party  which,  in 
1772,  destroyed  the  British  sloop  of  war  Gasper  in  Nar- 
raganset  Bay.  He  became  an  enterprising  and  wealthy 
merchant,  and  was  the  first  in  his  native  state  who  traded 
with  the  East  Indies  and  China.  He  was  chosen  a  mem 
ber  of  Congress,  and  was  a  generous  patron  of  literature, 
and  a  creat  projector  of  works  of  public  utility.  He  died 
in  1803. 

BURNET,  WILLIAM,  the  son  of  Bishop  Burnet,  was 
bowl  at  the  Hague,  in  1688.  After  having  held  the  office 
of  comptroller  of  the  customs  in  England,  he  was,  in  1720, 
appointed  governor  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey.  In 
1728,  he  was  appointed  to  the  government  of  Massa 
chusetts  and  New  Hampshire,  where  his  administration 
was  rendered  unpleasant  by  a  controversy  with  the  Assem 
bly.  He  died  at  Boston,  in  1729.  He  was  a  man  of 
learning,  and  published  several  works  on  theological  and 
philosophical  subjects. 

BURR,  AARON,  vice-president  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  at  Newark,  New  Jersey,  February  6,  1756. 

His  father,  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  was  the  first  president  of 
Nassau  Hall  College.  He  was  a  divine  of  great  eloquence 
and  piety,  though  rather  eccentric.  He  married  the  daugh 
ter  of  the  celebrated  Jonathan  Edwards. 

They  both  died  before  the  subject  of  this  memoir  was 
three  years  old.  Thus  in  his  infancy  deprived  of  his 
natural  guardians,  with  a  large  estate  to  purchase  the 
smiles  of  the  world  and  quench  its  frowns,  lie  gave  way  to 
all  the  vagaries  of  a  naturally  wayward  disposition.  At 
the  age  of  four  years,  he  ran  away  from  his  teacher,  and 
could  not  be  found  till  three  or  four  days  had  expired.  At 
the  age  often,  he  performed  the  same  feat,  and  entered  as 
a  cabin  boy  on  board  of  an  outward-bound  vessel,  where 
he  was  found  by  his  uncle,  perched  on  the  mast-head, 
ready  to  receive  him  and  arrange  articles  of  capitulation, 
before  he  put  himself  into  the  power  of  the  enemy.  He 
entered  the  sophomore  class  at  Nassau  Hall  College  at 
the  age  of  thirteen,  and  w^s  exceedingly  disappointed  in 


SELECT    LIVES.  461 

being  excluded  from  entrance  into  the  junior  class,  for 
which  he  was  prepared. 

For  a  few  months,  he  pursued  his  studies  with  great 
vigor  ;  but,  on  comparing  himself  with  his  classmates,  he 
found  them  so  much  below  himself  in  attainment,  that  he 
lost  the  desire  to  shine  as  a  scholar,  and  left  college  with 
a  reputation  for  great  talents,  based  on  the  result  of  a  few 
months'  application  in  the  early  part  of  his  college  life. 

He,  however,  took  his  diploma,  left  his  books,  and 
leaped  upon  the  stage  of  active  life.  Armed  with  the 
keenest  weapons  that  could  be  drawn  from  the  armory  of 
a  powerful  mind,  an  indomitable  will,  a  quenchless  en 
ergy,  and  a  self-possession  which  was  never  known  but 
once  to  forsake  him  in  the  whole  course  of  his  eventful 
life,  —  no  competition  could  arrest  him,  though  it  might 
divert  him  from  his  immediate  object ;  no  power  could 
chain  him,  till  it  attacked  a  vulnerable  part,  his  moral 
character. 

On  leaving  college,  he  entered  the  family  of  Rev.  Jon 
athan  Bellamy,  to  pursue  a  course  of  reading  on  theology, 
where  he  remained  about  six  months,  when  he  believed 
that  he  had  learned  "  that  the  way  to  heaven  was  open 
alike  to  all."  He  then  commenced  the  study  of  law,  which 
was  continually  interrupted  by  the  turmoil  of  political 
strife.  At  this  period,  the  subject  of  taxation  and  of  hu 
man  rights  was  every  where  debated  in  our  land,  and 
Aaron  Burr  gave  his  whole  soul  to  the  contest,  and  em 
braced  the  cause  of  patriotism. 

He  joined  the  army  at  Cambridge  as  a  volunteer ;  but, 
dissatisfied  with  a  state  of  inactivity,  though  of  slender 
frame,  and  enfeebled  by  disease,  he  resolved  to  join  the 
expedition  of  Arnold  up  the  Kennebec,  through  the  wil 
derness  to  Quebec.  A  messenger  from  his  uncle,  who 
was  his  guardian,  announced  to  Burr,  that  he  had  been- 
sent  to  convey  him  home.  "  There  are  but  two  ways  to 
effect  your  purpose,"  said  Burr  ;  "  the  one,  to  obtain  my 
consent,  which  you  shall  never  have  ;  the  other,  to  take  me 
by  force,  which  if  you  attempt,  I  will  have  you  hung  up  in 
ten  minutes."  He  accordingly  departed  from  Newbury- 
port  with  the  expedition,  September  20,  1775. 

The  sufferings  of  this  detachment  from  wet,  cold,  hun- 
39* 


462  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

ger,  and  fatigue,  were  excessive.  On  one  occasion,  Burr 
was  carried  over  a  fall  of  nearly  twenty  feet,  where  one 
man  was  drowned,  and  a  large  quantity  of  baggage  lost. 

His  fortitude  and  sagacity  usually  procured  for  him 
appointments  of  a  particularly  delicate  or  dangerous  char 
acter. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  troops  at  Chaudiere  Pond,  Arnold 
sent  him  with  a  verbal  message  to  General  Montgomery. 
Furnished  with  a  guide,  and  disguised  as  a  priest,  he  pen 
etrated  the  enemy's  country  as  far  as  Three  Rivers,  where 
the  guide,  becoming  alarmed,  refused  to  proceed  ;  they 
remained,  therefore,  three  days,  concealed  in  a  convent, 
and,  finding  no  further  cause  of  alarm,  they  recommenced 
their  toilsome  and  dangerous  journey,  and  arrived  in  safe 
ty  at  the  camp  of  Montgomery. 

The  general  was  astonished  at  the  boyish  appearance 
of  the  messenger  of  news  so  important ;  but,  after  listening 
to  the  incidents  of  his  journey,  he  was  still  more  aston 
ished  at  his  maturity  of  judgment,  and  his  skill  manifested 
in  the  execution  of  his  trust,  and  appointed  him  one  of  his 
aids,  though  but  nineteen  years  of  age. 

After  the  arrival  of  Arnold,  preparations  were  made  to 
storm  the  city.  General  Montgomery,  M'Pherson,  Cheese- 
man,  Burr,  and  a  French  guide,  led  the  van,  and  the  Ca 
nadians  fled  before  them.  But  by  the  accidental  dis 
charge  of  a  piece  of  artillery,  three  out  of  the  five  in  the 
van  of  the  column  were  killed,  leaving  only  Burr  and  the 
French  guide,  on  which  Colonel  Campbell  ordered  a 
retreat. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  Quebec,  at  the  invitation  of 
General  Washington,  Burr  joined  his  family ;  but,  a  mu 
tual  dislike  arising  between  them,  he  remained  but  a  short 
time.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause  of  this  dislike, 
General  Washington,  even  while  doing  justice  to  his  merit 
as  a  skilful  officer,  from  that  time,  never  extended  to  Burr 
his  confidence. 

Burr  at  length  received  a  commission  as  lieutenant- 
colonel  in  the  regiment  of  Colonel  Malcolm,  stationed  in 
Orange  county,  New  York.  On  presenting  himself  for  the 
first  time  at  the  head-quarters  of  the  regiment,  Colonel 
Malcolm  was  greatly  disappointed ;  for,  having  had  little 


SELECT    LIVES.  463 

military  experience  himself,  he  had  relied  much  on  the  aid 
of  his  second  in  command,  and  he  very  much  feared  that 
the  boy  who  was  now  introduced  to  him  would  fail  in 
judgment  and  discretion.  In  a  few  days,  however,  he  dis 
covered  that  he  had  fallen  into  the  error  of  Darius  of 
Persia,  who  gave  to  Alexander ,  the  epithet  of  "  the  mad 
boy  of  Macedon,"  and,  feeling  no  longer  any  apprehen 
sion  of  the  consequences,  he  departed  to  his  family,  about 
twenty  miles  distant,  leaving  Burr  in  command,  kindly 
remarking,  "  You  shall  have  all  the  honor  of  disciplining 
and  fighting  the  regiment,  while  I  will  be  its  father." 

Colonel  Burr  now  gave  his  whole  attention  to  the  duties 
of  his  station.  He  introduced  order  and  discipline  among 
a  citizen  soldiery ;  he  examined  and  drew  a  map  of  every 
road,  wood,  hill,  or  creek,  in  his  vicinity,  obtained  intelli 
gence  of  all  the  important  movements,  and  even  the  de 
signs  of  the  enemy,  and  personally  visited  every  important 
post  of  the  camp  once  in  every  two  hours  of  the  night. 

One  day,  an  officer  was  surprised  at  Colonel  Burr's 
hastily  remarking  to  him,  "  Drake,  that  post  on  the  river 
will  be  attacked  to-night,  and  neither  officers  nor  men 
know  their  duty;  you  must  defend  it;  keep  your  eyes 
open,- or  you  will  have  your  throat  "cut  before  morning." 
Drake  assumed  the  command,  ordered  every  soldier  to 
stand  at  his  post,  prepared  for  instant  battle,  where  they 
stood  in  darkness  and  in  silence  till  past  midnight,  when  a 
party  of  mounted  men  cautiously  approached  the  Ameri 
can  works,  hoping  for  tin  easy  victory;  but,  to  their  dis 
may,  the  whole  garrison  lighted  up  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  and  showed  the  way  by  the  blaze  of  their  muskets ; 
but  the  enemy  declined  advancing  nearer,  and,  practising 
"  the  better  part  of  V.alor,"  retired  in  confusion  to  their 
main  body. 

During  the  course  of  the  war,  it  was  generally  found 
that  the  tract  of  country  which  was  the  immediate  theatre 
of  operations,  was  infested  by  armed  bands  of  men  styled 
skinner's,  who  assumed  the  character  of  either  party,  as 
circumstances  required,  and  made  the  politics  of  every 
rich  whig  or  tory  the  ostensible  cause  of  every  species 
of  rapine. 

A  prominent  tory,  whose  house  had  one  night  been 


464  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

plundered,  in  the  morning  sent  his  son  to  inform  Colonel 
Burr  of  the  event.  The  young  man  made  his  way,  by  a  se 
cret  path,  to  the  tent  of  Colonel  Burr,  thus  violating  the 
rules  of  the  camp,  for  which  the  colonel  promptly  punished 
him,  and  sent  a  party  of  men  to  secure  the  robbers.  In  a 
few  hours  they  were  found,  compelled  to  restore  their 
plunder,  to  pay  a  heavy  fine,  to  receive  ten  lashes  each, 
arid  to  leave  the  state,  with  what  skin  they  had  left. 

But  the  military  career  of  Colonel  Burr  was  now  draw 
ing  to  a  close.  His  health,  which  had  always  been  deli 
cate,  now  gave  way  under  the  excessive  fatigue  of  the 
duties  of  the  camp,  and  compelled  him  to  resign  his  com 
mission  ;  and,  through  the  inefficiency  of  his  successor,  the 
regiment,  which  he  had  taught  never  to  surrender  with 
arms  in  their  hands,  was  surprised,  the  greater  part,  with 
their  commander,  destroyed,  and  the  rest  taken  prisoners. 

On  leaving  the  army,  Colonel  Burr  resumed  the  study 
of  Jaw,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Albany,  whence  he 
removed  to  New  York,  and  soon  became  the  successful 
competitor  of  General  Hamilton,  who  was  then  at  the  head 
of  the  bar. 

At  the  close  of  the  presidential  term  of  the  elder  Ad 
ams,  no  choice  of  a  successor  was  made  by  the  people, 
and  the  matter  came  into  the  House  of  Representatives. 
Jefferson  and  Burr,  of  the  same  political  party,  were  the 
rival  candidates,  with  an  equal  number  of  votes.  After 
thirty-six  ballotings,  Mr.  Burr  voluntarily  yielded  to  his 
rival,  and  Mr.  Jefferson  became  president ;  and  Mr.  Burr,  by 
the  law  then  existing,  became  vice-president  of  the  United 
States.  But  so  violent  had  been  the  contest,  that  Mr. 
Jefferson  never  forgave  the  man  who  had  so  nearly  defeat 
ed  his  election.  In  all  his  succeeding  career,  Mr.  Burr 
found  himself  hedged  in  by  the  machinations  of  his  power 
ful  rival ;  so  that,  by  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Jefferson  in  one 
party,  and  of  Mr.  Hamilton  in  the  other,  Mr.  Burr  soon  lost 
his  political  influence. 

In  the  course  of  a  state  election  in  New  York,  a  letter 
of  Dr.  Cooper  was  published  containing  the  following  ex 
pression  —  "  I  could  detail  to  you  a  still  more  despicable 
opinion  that  General  Hamilton  has  expressed  of  Mr. 
Burr." 


SELECT    LIVES.  465 

The  hostility  of  these  prominent  individuals  had  now 
arrived  at  the  highest  point ;  all  attempts  to  effect  a  recon 
ciliation  failed,  and  a  duel  at  Hoboken  resulted  in  the 
death  of  Hamilton  and  in  the  flight  of  Burr,  disgraced  by 
a  coroner's  verdict  of  "  wilful  murder." 

About  the  same  time,  there  were  strong  expectations  of 
a  war  between  the  United  States  and  Spain. 

General  Wilkinson,  Colonel  Burr,  and  others,  formed  a 
plan  of  operations  against  Mexico  in  case  of  war.  But 
General  Wilkinson  became  alarmed  at  the  change  of  af 
fairs,  forsook  his  associates,  and  took  measures  to  defeat 
the  very  scheme  that  he  had  originated,  and  with  the  Mex 
ican  government  made  a  merit  of  having  defeated  it, 
claiming  for  his  services  a  large  reward,  while  Colonel 
Burr  was  stigmatized  as  a  traitor  to  his  country,  and  tried 
for  his  life.  No  proof  to  substantiate  the  charge  was  found 
against  him,  and  he  was  therefore  acquitted. 

Colonel  Burr  now  embarked  for  England,  to  mature  a 
project  of  effecting  a  revolution  in*  South  America;  but, 
failing  in  his  expectations  of  aid  from  England,  he  applied 
to  Bonaparte,  yet  with  no  better  success,  and  returned  to 
his  own  country.  He  reestablished  an  office  in  New 
York,  where  he  continued  to.  practise  law  till  his  death, 
which  occurred  April  14,  1836,  in  the  ,81st  year  of  his 
age. 

CLINTON,  JAMES,  was  born  in  1736,  at  the  resi 
dence  of  his  father,  in  Ulster  county,  New  York.  He  dis 
played  an  early  inclination  for  a'  military  life,  and  held 
successively  several  offices  in  the  militia  and  provincial 
troops.  During  the  French  war,  he  exhibited  many  proofs 
of  courage,  and  received  the  appointment  of  captain-com 
mandant  of  the  four  regiments  levied  for  the  protection  of 
the  western  frontiers  of  the  counties  of  Ulster  and  Orange. 
In  1775,  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  third  regiment 
of  New  York  forces,  and  in  the  same  year  marched  with 
Montgomery  to  Quebec.  During  the  war,  he  rendered 
eminent  services  to  his  country,  and,  on  the  conclusion  of  it, 
retired  to  enjoy  repose  on  his  ample  estates.  He  was,  how 
ever,  frequently  called  from  retirement  by  the  unsolicited 
voice  of  his  fellow-citizens;  and  was  a  member  of  the 


466  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

Convention  for  the  adoption  of  the  present  constitution  of 
the  United  States.  He  died  in  1812. 

CLINTON,  GEORGE,  vice-president  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  the  county  of  Ulster,  New  York,  in 
1739,  and  was  educated  to  the  profession  of  the  law.  In 
1768,  he  was  chosen  to  a  seat  in  the  colonial  assembly, 
and  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress  in 
1775.  In  1776,  he  was  appointed  brigadier-general  of 
the  militia  of  Ulster  county,  and  some  time  after  a  briga 
dier  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and  continued, 
during  the  progress  of  the  war,  to  render  important  ser 
vices  to  the  military  department.  In  April,  1777,  he  was 
elected  both  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  of  New 
York,  and  was  continued  in  the  former  office  for  eighteen 
years.  He  was  unanimously  chosen  president  of  the  Con 
vention  which  assembled  at  Poughkeepsie,  in  1788,  to  de 
liberate  on  the  new  federal  constitution.  In  1801,  he 
again  accepted  the  office  of  governor,  and,  after  continuing 
in  that  capacity  for  three  years,  he  was  elevated  to  the 
vice-presidency  of  the  United  States — a  dignity  which  he 
retained  till  his  death,  at  Washington,  in  1812.  In  private, 
he  was  kind  and  amiable,  and  as  a  public  man,  he  is  enti 
tled  to  respectful  remembrance. 

CLINTON,  DE  WITT,  was  born  in  1769,  at  Little 
Britain,  in  Orange  county,  New  York.  He  was  educated 
at  Columbia  College,  commenced  the  study  of  the  law,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar,  but  was  never  much  engaged  in 
professional  practice.  He  early  imbibed  a  predilection 
for  political  life,  and  was  appointed  the  private  secretary 
of  his  uncle,  George  Clinton,  then  governor  of  the  state. 
In  1797,  he  was  sent  to  the  legislature  from  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  two  years  after  was  chosen  a  member  of 
the  state  Senate.  In  1801,  he  was  appointed  a  senator  of 
the  United  States,  and  continued  in  that  capacity  for  two 
sessions.  He  retired  from  the  Senate  in  1803,  in  conse 
quence  of  his  election  to  the  mayoralty  of  New  York  —  an 
office  to  which  he  was  annually  reelected,  with  the  inter 
mission  of  but  two  years,  till  1815,  when  he  was  obliged 
to  retire  by  the  violence  of  party  politics.  In  1817,  he 
was  elected,  almost  unanimously,  governor  of  the  state, 


SELECT    LIVES.  467 

was  again  chosen  in  1820,  but  in  1822  declined  being  a 
candidate  for  reelection.  In  1810,  Mr.  Clinton  had  been 
appointed,  by  the  Senate  of  his  state,  one  of  the  board  of 
canal  commissioners ;  but,  the  displeasure  of  his  political 
opponents  having  been  excited,  he  was  removed  from  this 
office  in  1823,  by  a  vote  of  both  branches  of  the  legis 
lature.  This  insult  created  a  strong  reaction  in  popular 
feeling,  and  Mr.  Clinton  was  immediately  nominated  for 
governor,  and  elected  by  an  unprecedented  majority.  In 
1826,  he  was  again  elected,  but  he  died  before  the  com 
pletion  of  his  term.  He  expired  very  suddenly,  while 
sitting  in  his  library,  after  dinner,  February  11,  1828. 
Mr.  Clinton  was  not  only  eminent  as  a  statesman,  but  he 
occupied  a  conspicuous  rank  as  a  man  of  learning.  He 
was  a  member  of  a  large  part  of  the  benevolent,  literary, 
and  scientific  societies  of  the  United  States,  and  an  hon 
orary  member  of  several  foreign  societies.  His  pro 
ductions  are  numerous,  consisting  of  his  speeches  and 
messages  to  the  state  legislature;  his  discourses  before 
various  institutions ;  his  speeches  in  the  Senate  of  the 
Union;  his  addresses  to  the  army  during  the  late  war;  his 
communications  concerning  the  canal ;  his  judicial  opin 
ions  ;  and  various  fugitive  pieces.  His  national  services 
were  of  the  highest  importance ;  and  the  Erie  Canal, 
especially,  —  though  the  honor  of  projecting  it  may  belong 
to  another,  —  will  remain  a  perpetual  monument  of  the  pa 
triotism  and  perseverance  of  Clinton. 

CABOT,  GEORGE,  was  born  in  Salem,  Massachu 
setts,  in  the  year  1752,  and  spent  the  early  part  of  his  life 
in  the  employment  of  a  shipmaster.  He  possessed  a  vig 
orous  and  inquisitive  mind,  and  took  advantage  of  every 
opportunity  of  improvement  and  acquisition,  even  amid 
the  restlessness  and  danger  of  a  seafaring  life.  Before  he 
was  twenty-six  years  of  age,  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts,  which  met  with 
the  visionary  project  of  establishing  a  maximum  in  the 
prices  of  provision.  There  he  displayed  that  sound  sense, 
and  that  acquaintance  with  the  true  principles  of  political 
economy,  for  which  he  afterwards  became  so  much  dis 
tinguished.  Mr.  Cabot  was  a  member  of  the  state  Con 
vention  assembled  to  deliberate  on  the  adoption  of  the 


468  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

federal  constitution,  and  in  1790  was  elected  to  a  seat  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  Of  this  body  he  became 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  members,  and  enjoyed  the 
unlimited  confidence  and  friendship  of  Hamilton  and 
Washington.  In  1808,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Coun 
cil  of  Massachusetts,  and,  in  18J4,  was  appointed  a  delegate 
to  the  Convention  which  met  at  Hartford,  and  was  chosen 
to  preside  over  its  deliberations.  He  died  at  Boston,  in 
1823,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years.  He  possessed  a 
mind  of  great  energy  and  penetration,  and  in  private  life 
was  much  loved  and  esteemed.  As  a  public  man,  he  was 
pure  and  disinterested,  of  high  sagacity  and  persuasive 
eloquence.  His  favorite  studies  were  political  economy 
and  the  science  of  government. 

CHAMPE,  JOHN,  a  soldier  in  the  American  revo 
lution,  was  born  in  Loudon  county,  Virginia.  In  the  -year 
1776,  he  was  appointed  a  sergeant-major  in  Lee's  regiment 
of  cavalry,  and,  after  the  discovery  of  Arnold's  treason,  was 
employed  by  Washington  in  a  service  of  much  danger  and 
difficulty ;  this  was,  to  visit  the  British  army  as  a  deserter, 
in  order  to  ascertain  if  any  other  American  officers  were 
engaged  in  that  conspiracy,  and  to  secure,  if  possible,  the 
person  of  Arnold.  In  the  latter  object  of  his  enterprise  he 
unfortunately  failed;  but  he  effected  his.  own  escape  in 
safety,  and  returned  to  his  companions.  Washington 
treated  him  munificently,  and  presented  him  with  his  dis 
charge  from  further  .service,  lest,  in  the  vicissitudes  of 
war,  he  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  perish 
upon  a  gibbet.  He  died  in  Kentucky,  about  the  year 
1797. 

CRAIK,  JAMES,  was  born  in  Scotland,  where  he  re 
ceived  his  education  for  the  medical  service  of  the  British 
army.  He  came  to  the  colony  of  Virginia  in  early  life, 
and  accompanied  Washington  in  his  expeditions  against 
the  French  and  Indians  in  1754,  and  in  the  following 
year  attended  Braddock  in  his  march  through  the  wil 
derness,  and  assisted  in  dressing  his  wounds.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  revolution,  by  the  aid  of  his  early 
and  fast  friend,  General  Washington,  he  was  transferred 
to  the  medical  department  in  the  continental  army,  and 
rose  to  the  first  rank  and .  distinction.  He  continued  in 


SELECT    LIVES.  469 

the  army  to  the  end  of  the  war,  and  was  present  at  the 
surrender  of  Cornwallis,  on  the  memorable  19th  of  Octo 
ber,  1781.  After  the  cessation  of  hostilities,  he  removed 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Mount  Vernon,  and,  in  1798,  was 
once  more  appointed  by  Washington  to  his  former  station 
in  the  medical  staff.  He  was  present  with  his  illustrious 
friend  in  his  last  moments,  and  died  in  1814,  in  the 
eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  skilful  and  suc 
cessful  physician,  and  Washington  mentioned  him  as  "my 
compatriot  in  arms,  my  old  and  intimate  friend." 

GUSHING,  THOMAS,  was  born  at  Boston,  in  1725, 
educated  at  Cambridge  College,  where  he  was  graduated  in 
1744.  He  engaged  early  in  public  life,  and,  in  1763,  was 
chosen  speaker  of  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts, 
and  continued  in  the  office  for  several  consecutive  years. 
Though  patriotic  in  his  principles,  he  was  by  no  means 
violent,  and  by  his  intervention  much  good  was  effected 
between  the  contending  parties.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  two  first  Continental  Congresses,  and,  on  his  return  to 
his  state,  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Council.  He  was 
also  appointed  judge  of  the  Courts  of  Common  Pleas  and 
of  Probate ;  and,  on  the  adoption  of  the  present  consti 
tution,  he  was  elected  lieutenant-governor  of  the  state, 
and  continued  so  until  his  death,  in  1788. 

COOKE,  ELISHA,  a  physician  of  Boston,  Massa 
chusetts,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1657.  He 
distinguished  himself  by  his  vigorous  efforts  in  advocating 
popular  rights,  during  the  contentions  between  the  legis 
lature  of  the  colony  and  the  royal  governors.  In  1689,  he 
went  to  England  as  agent  of  Massachusetts,  to  procure  the 
restoration  of  the  charter.  He  was  bold  and  patriotic,  and 
possessed  much  strength  of  intellect.  After  holding  va 
rious  important  offices  in  the  province,  he  died  in  1715. 
—  ELISHA,  son  of  the  preceding,  and  also  distinguished  in 
the  early  political  contentions  of  the  province,  was  grad 
uated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1697,  held  several  public 
offices,  and  died  in  1737. 

CRAFTS,  WILLIAM,    a   lawyer    and   miscellaneous 

writer,  was  born  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  1787 

He  received  his  education  at  Harvard  College,  and  studied 

law  in  his  native  city,  where  he  acquired  some  reputation 

40 


470  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

for  talent  and  eloquence.  He  was  a  member  of  the  South 
Carolina  legislature,  and  for  some  time  editor  of  the 
Charleston  Courier.  He  died  at  Lebanon  Springs,  New 
York,  in  1826.  A  collection  of  his  works,  comprising 
poems,  essays  in  prose,  and  orations,  with  a  biographical 
memoir,  was  published  in  Charleston,  in  1828. 

CADWALADER,  JOHN,  was  born  in  Philadelphia, 
and  rose  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general  in  the  American 
army  during  the  revolutionary  war.  He  was  a  man  of  in 
flexible  courage,  and  possessed  in  a  high  degree  the  es 
teem  and  confidence  of  Washington.  In  1778,  he  was  ap 
pointed  by  Congress  general  of  cavalry,  an  appointment 
which  he  declined  on  the  score  of  being  more  useful  in 
the  situation  he  then  occupied.  After  the  war,  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Assembly  of  Maryland,  and  died  in  1786, 
in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 

CLARKE,  GEORGE  ROGERS,  colonel  in  the  ser 
vice  of  Virginia,  against  the  Indians  in  the  revolutionary 
war,  distinguished  himself  greatly  in  that  post,  and  ren 
dered  efficient  service  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  frontiers. 
In  1779,  he  descended  the  Ohio,  and  built  Fort  Jefferson 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Mississippi;  ii.  1781,  he  re 
ceived  a  general's  commission.  He  died  in  1817,  at  his 
seat  near  Louisville,  Kentucky. 

DECATUR,  STEPHEN,  a  distinguished  officer  in 
the  navy  of  the  United  States,  was  born  in  Maryland, 
in  1779,  and  received  his  education  in  Philadelphia. 
He  entered  the  navy  in  1798,  and  first  distinguished 
himself,  when  in  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  by  the  de 
struction  of  the  American  frigate  Philadelphia,  which 
had  run  upon  a  rock  in  the  harbor  of  Tripoli,  and  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  For  this  exploit,  the 
American  Congress  gave  him  a  vote  of  thanks  and  a 
sword,  and  the  president  immediately  sent  him  a  cap 
taincy.  At  the  bombardment  of  Tripoli,  the  next  year, 
he  distinguished  himself  by  the  capture  of  two  of  the 
enemy's  boats,  which  were  moored  along  the  mouth  of 
the  harbor,  and  immediately  under  the  batteries.  When 
peace  was  concluded  with  Tripoli,  Decatur  returned  home 
in  the  Congress,  and  afterward  succeeded  Commodore 
Barron  in  the  command  of  the  Chesapeake.  In  the  late 


SELECT    LIVES.  471 

war  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  his 
chief  exploit  was  the  capture  of  the  British  frigate  Mace 
donian,  commanded  by  Captain  Garden.  In  January, 
1815,  he  attempted  to  sail  from  New  York,  which  was 
then  blockaded  by  four  British  ships ;  but  the  frigate 
under  his  command  was  injured  in  passing  the  bar,  and 
was  captured  by  the  whole  squadron,  after  a  running  fight 
of  two  or  three  hours.  He  was  restored  to  his  country 
after  the  conclusion  of  peace.  In  the  summer  of  the  same 
year,  he  was  sent  with  a  squadron  to  the  Mediterranean,  in 
order  to  compel  the  Algerines  to  desist  from  their  depre 
dations  on  American  commerce.  He  arrived  at  Algiers 
on  the  twenty-eighth  of  June,  and,  in  less  than  forty-eight 
hours,  terrified  the  regency  into  an  entire  accession  to  all 
his  terms.  Thence  he  went  to  Tripoli,  where  he  met  with 
like  success.  On  returning  to  the  United  States,  he  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  board  of  commissioners  for  the 
navy,  and  held  that  office  till  March,  1820,  when  he  was 
shot  in  a  duel  with  Commodore  Barron.  He  was  a  man 
of  an  active  and  powerful  frame,  and  possessed  a  high  de 
gree  of  energy,  sagacity,  and  courage. 

DICKINSON,  JOHN,  a  celebrated  political  writer, 
was  born  in  Maryland,  in  1732,  and  educated  in  Delaware. 
He  pursued  the  study  of  law,  and  practised  with  success  in 
Philadelphia.  He  was  soon  elected  to  the  state  legislature, 
and  distinguished  himself  as  an  early  and  efficient  advocate 
of  colonial  rights.  In  1765,  he  was  appointed  by  Pennsyl 
vania  a  delegate  to  the  first  Congress,  held  at  New  York, 
and  prepared  the  draught  of  the  bold  resolutions  of  that  body. 
His  celebrated  Farmer's  Letters  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
British  colonies  were  issued  in  Philadelphia,  in  1767;  they 
were  reprinted  in  London,  with  a  preface  by  Dr.  Franklin, 
and  a  French  translation  of  them  was  published  at  Paris. 
While  in  Congress,  he  wrote  a  large  number  of  the  most 
able  and  eloquent  state  papers  of  the  time,  and  as  an  orator 
he  had  few  superiors  in  that  assembly.  He  conscientiously 
opposed  the  declaration  of  independence,  and  his  opin 
ions  upon  this  subject  rendered  him  for  a  time  unpopular, 
but  they  did  not  permanently  affect  his  reputation  and  in 
fluence.  He  was  afterwards  a  member  of  Congress,  and 
president  of  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware,  successively. 


472  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

He  died  at  Wilmington,  in  1808.  Mr.  Dickinson  was  a 
man  of  a  strong  mind,  great  knowledge  and  eloquence, 
and  much  elegance  of  taste  and  manners. 

DALE,  RICHARD,  an  American  naval  commander, 
was  born  in  Virginia,  1756.  At  twelve  years  of  age,  he 
was  sent  to  sea,  and  in  1777  he  entered  as  a  midshipman 
on  board  of  the  American  brig  of  war  Lexington.  In  the 
following  year,  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  a  British  cruiser, 
and  after  a  twelve  months'  confinement,  he  escaped  from 
Mill  Prison,  and  succeeded  in  reaching  France.  Here  he 
joined,  in  the  character  of  master's  mate,  the  celebrated 
Paul  Jones,  then  commanding  the  American  ship  Bon 
Homme  Richard.  He  was  soon  raised  to  the  rank  of 
first  lieutenant,  and  signalized  himself  in  the  sanguinary 
engagement  between  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and  the 
English  frigate  Serapis.  In  1794,  the  United  States  made 
him  a  captain  in  the  navy,  and  in  1801  he  took  command 
of  the  American  squadron  which  sailed  in  that  year  from 
Hampton  Roads  to  the  Mediterranean.  From  the  year 
1802,  he  passed  his  life  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  enjoyment 
of  a  competent  estate,  and  much  esteemed  by  his  fellow- 
citizens.  He  died  in  1826,  leaving  the  reputation  of  a 
brave  and  intelligent  seaman. 

ELLSWORTH,  OLIVER,  an  American  judge  and 
statesman,  was  born  at  Windsor,  Connecticut,  in  1745, 
and  was  graduated  at  the  college  of  Nassau  Hall,  at 
Princeton,  in  1766.  Devoting  himself  to  the  practice  of 
the  law,  he  soon  rose  to  distinction  by  the  energy  of  his 
mind  and  his  eloquence.  From  the  earliest  period  of  dis 
content,  he  joined  the  cause  of  the  colonies,  and  in  1777 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress.  In 
this  body  he  remained  for  three  years ;  and  in  1784  he  was 
appointed  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  the  state.  He 
was  a  delegate  to  the  Convention  for  framing  the  federal 
constitution,  and  was  a  senator  in  the  first  Congress.  In 
1796,  he  was  appointed  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  1799  was  sent  envoy  extraor 
dinary  to  France.  The  decline  of  his  health  induced  him 
to  resign  his  seat  on  the  bench,  and  he  retired  to  his 
family  residence  at  Windsor,  where  he  died  in  1807. 

EATON,  WILLIAM,  general   in  the   service  of  the 


SELECT    LIVES.  473 

United  States,  was  born  in  Woodstock,  Connecticut,  in 
1764,  and  was  graduated  at  Dartmouth  College,  in  1790. 
In  1792,  he  received  a  captain's  commission  in  the  army, 
and  served  for  some  time  under  General  Wayne,  on  the 
Mississippi  and  in  Georgia.  In  1797,  he  was  appointed 
consul  to  the  kingdom  of  Tunis,  and  continued  there 
engaged  in  a  variety  of  adventures  and  negotiations,  till 
1803,  when  he  returned  to  the  United  States.  In  1804, 
he  was  appointed  navy  agent  for  the  Barbary  powers,  for 
the  purpose  of  cooperating  with  Hamet  Bashaw  in  the  war 
against  Tripoli,  but  was  disappointed  by  the  conclusion 
of  a  premature  peace  between  the  American  consul  and 
the  Tripolitan  bashaw.  On  his  return  to  the  United 
States,  he  failed  in  obtaining  from  the  government  any 
compensation  for  his  pecuniary  losses,  or  any  employment 
corresponding  with  his  merit  and  services.  Under  the  in 
fluence  of  his  disappointments,  he  fell  into  habits  of  in 
ebriety,  and  died  in  1811.  His  Life,  published  by  one  of 
his  friends  in  Massachusetts,  is  full  of  interesting  ad 
venture. 

FULTON,  ROBERT,  an  American  engineer  and  pro 
jector,  was  born,  in  1765,  at  Little  Britain,  in  Pennsyl 
vania.  Abandoning  the  trade  of  a  jeweller,  he  studied  for 
some  years  under  West,  with  the  intention  of  being  a 
painter ;  but,  having  become  acquainted  with  a  fellow- 
countryman  named  Rurnsey,  who  was  skilled  in  mechan 
ics,  he  became  fond  of  that  science,  and  ultimately  adopted 
the  profession  of  a  civil  engineer.  Before  he  left  England, 
he  published,  in  1796,  a  treatise  On  Inland  Navigation,  in 
which  he  proposed  to  supersede  locks  by  inclined  planes. 
In  1800,  he  introduced,  with  much  profit  to  himself,  the 
panorama  into  the  French  capital.  For  some  years,  he 
was  engaged  in  experiments  to  perfect  a  machine  called  a 
torpedo,  intended  to  destroy  ships  of  war  by  explosion. 
After  his  return  to  America,  he  gave  to  the  world  an  ac 
count  of  several  inventions,  among  which  are  a  machine 
for  sawing  and  polishing  marble,  another  for  rope-rnaking, 
and  a  boat  to  be  navigated  under  water.  He  obtained  a 
patent  for  his  inventions  in  navigation  by  steam  in  1^09, 
and  another  for  some  improvements  in  1811.  In  1814, 
he  contrived  an  armed  steam  ship  for  the  defence  of  the 
40* 


474  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

harbor  of  New  York,  and  a  submarine  vessel  large  enough 
to  carry  one  hundred  men ;  the  plans  of  which  being  ap 
proved  by  government,  he  was  authorized  to  construct 
them  at  the  public  expense.  But  before  completing  either 
of  those  works,  he  died  suddenly  in  1815.  Though  not 
the  inventor  of  it,  he  was  the  first  who  successfully  em 
ployed  the  steam  engine  in  navigation. 

GORE,  CHRISTOPHER,  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
was  born  in  Boston,  in  1758,  and  received  his  early  in 
struction  in  the  public  schools  of  that  town.  He  was 
graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1776,  and  soon  after  com 
menced  the  study  of  the  law.  When  he  entered  on  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  he  rose  rapidly  in  public  esteem 
as  a  lawyer,  a  politician,  and  an  honest  man.  At  the  age 
of  thirty,  he  was  sent  by  his  fellow-citizens,  with  Hancock 
and  Samuel  Adams,  to  the  state  Convention  which  consid 
ered  the  adoption  of  the  national  constitution.  In  1789, 
he  was  appointed,  by  Washington,  the  first  United  States' 
attorney  for  the  district  of  Massachusetts,  and,  in  1796, 
one  of  the  commissioners,  under  the  fourth  article  of  Jay's 
treaty,  to  settle  our  claims  for  spoliations.  He  remained 
abroad  in  the  public  service  for  about  eight  years,  and,  ou 
his  return,  was  welcomed  home  with  the  strongest  marks 
of  public  favor.  Having  held  seats  in  the  state  Senate  and 
the  House  of  Representatives,  he  was  chosen,  in  1809,  gov 
ernor  of  Massachusetts,  but  retained  this  dignity  only  one 
year.  In  1814,  he  was  appointed  senator  to  Congress,  and 
served  in  this  capacity  about  three  years,  when  he  with 
drew  into  final  retirement.  He  died  in  1827.  Mr.  Gore 
was  a  useful  member  of  several  important  literary  asso 
ciations.  To  the  American  Academy,  and  the  Massa 
chusetts  Historical  Society,  he  left  valuable  bequests  ;  and 
he  made  Harvard  College,  of  which  institution  he  had 
been  some  years  a  fellow,  his  residuary  legatee.  He  was 
a  man  of  a  clear,  acute,  and  discriminating  mind. 

GORDON,  WILLIAM,  an  historian  of  the  American 
revolution,  was  born  in  England,  and  settled,  at  an  early 
age,  pastor  of  an  independent  church  at  Ipswich.  In 
1770,  he  came  to  America,  and  soon  after  settled  in  Rox- 
bury.  In  1776,  he  began  the  collection  of  materials  for 
the  history  of  the  revolution,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war 


SELECT    LIVES.  475 

he  repaired  to  England  and  published  them.  He  died  at 
Ipswich,  in  1807. 

GREENE,  SAMUEL,  was  the  first  printer  in  North 
America.  The  first  thing  printed  was  the  Freeman's 
Oath,  in  1639,  the  next  an  almanac,  arid  the  third  the 
New  England  version  of  the  Psalms,  in  1640.  The  time 
of  his  death  is  unknown. 

GREENE,  NATHANIEL,  major-general  in  the  army 
of  the  United  States,  was  born  in  Warwick,  Rhode  Island, 
in  1742.  Though  enjoying  very  few  advantages  of  edu 
cation,  he  displayed  an  early  fondness  for  knowledge,  and 
devoted  his  leisure  time  assiduously  to  study.  In  1770, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  state  legislature,  and  in 
1774  enrolled  himself  as  a  private  in  a  company  called  the 
Kentish  Guards.  From  this  situation  he  was  elevated  to 
the  head  of  three  regiments,  with  the  title  of  major-gen 
eral.  In  1776,  he  accepted  from  Congress  a  commission 
of  brigadier-general,  and  soon  after,  at  the  battles  of  Tren 
ton  and  Princeton,  distinguished  himself  by  his  skill  arid 
bravery.  In  1778,  he  was  appointed  quartermaster-gen 
eral,  and  in  that  office  rendered  efficient  service  to  the 
country  by  his  unwearied  zeal  and  great  talents  for  busi 
ness.  He  presided  at  the  court-martial  which  tried  Major 
Andre,  in  1780,  and  was  appointed  to  succeed  Arnold  in 
the  command  at  West  Point ;  but  he  held  this  post  only  a 
few  days.  In  December  of  the  same  year,  he  assumed  the 
command  of  the  southern  army,  and  in  this  situation  dis 
played  a  prudence,  intrepidity,  and  firmness,  which  raised 
him  to  an  elevated  rank  among  our  revolutionary  generals. 
In  September,  1781,  he  obtained  the  famous  victory  at 
Eutaw  Springs,  for  which  he  received  from  Congress  a 
British  standard  and  a  gold  medal,  as  a  testimony  of  their 
value  of  his  conduct  and  services.  On  the  termination  of 
hostilities,  he  returned  to  Rhode  Island,  arid  in  1785  re 
moved  with  his  family  to  Georgia,  where  he  died  suddenly 
in  June  of  the  following  year.  He  was  a  man  of  high  en 
ergy,  courage,  and  ability,  and  possessed  the  entire  con 
fidence  of  Washington. 

GAGE,  THOMAS,  the  last  governor  of  Massachusetts 
appointed  by  the  king,  first  came  to  America,  as  a  lieu 
tenant,  with  Braddock,  and  was  present  at  the  battle  in 


476  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

which  that  officer  received  his  mortal  wound.  He  was 
appointed  governor  of  Montreal  in  1760,  and  in  1703 
succeeded  General  Amherst  as  commander-in-chief  of  the 
British  forces  in  North  America.  In  1774,  he  succeeded 
Hutchinson  as  governor  of  Massachusetts,  when  he  soon 
began  the  course  of  illegal  and  oppressive  acts  that  brought 
on  the  war  of  the  revolution.  In  1775,  the  Provincial 
Congress  of  Massachusetts  declared  him  an  enemy  to  the 
colony  ;  and,  not  long  after,  he  returned  to  England,  where 
he  died  in  1787. 

GADSDEN,  CHRISTOPHER,  a  patriot  of  the  Ameri 
can  revolution,  was  born  in  South  Carolina,  in  the  year 
1724.  In  1765,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Congress  which 
was  convened  at  New  York,  for  the  purpose  of  petitioning 
against  the  stamp  act,  and  again  of  that  which  assembled 
in  1774.  He  remained  in  Charleston  during  the  siege  in 
1780.  In  1782,  he  was  elected  governor  of  his  native 
state,  but  declined  the  office  on  account  of  the  infirmities 
of  age.  He  died  in  1805. 

GOOKIN,  DANIEL,  a  major-general  of  Massachu 
setts,  was  born  in  England,  and  in  1621  emigrated  to 
Virginia.  In  1644,  he  removed  to  New  England,  and 
was  appointed  superintendent  of  all  the  Indians  who  had 
submitted  to  the  government  of  Massachusetts.  In  1681, 
he  received  the  appointment  of  major-general  of  the  prov 
ince.  He  died  in  1687,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five.  He 
left  in  manuscript  historical  collections  of  New  England 
Indians,  which  were  published  in  the  first  volume  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  He  also  left  in  man 
uscript  a  history  of  New  England. 

HAWLEY,  JOSEPH,  a  patriot  of  the  American  revo 
lution,  was  born  at  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  in  1724, 
and,  after  graduating  at  Yale  College,  in  1742,  pursued  the 
profession  of  the  law  in  his  native  town.  He  soon  rose  to 
distinction  and  extensive  practice  ;  but,  by  the  efforts  of  the 
friends  of  the  British  administration,  he  was  afterwards  for 
a  short  time  excluded  from  the  bar.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  who  proposed  to  resist  British  encroachments  by 
force,  and  he  continued  through  his  life  to  be  an  active 
and  efficient  advocate  of  the  rights  of  his  country.  He 
died  in  1788 


SELECT   LIVES.  477 

HENRY,  PATRICK,  an  American  orator  and  states 
man,  was  born  in  Virginia,  in  1736,  and,  after  receiving  a 
common  school  education,  and  spending  some  time  in 
trade  and  agriculture,  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law, 
after  only  six  weeks  of  preparatory  study.  After  several 
years  of  poverty,  with  the  encumbrance  of  a  family,  he  first 
rose  to  distinction  in  managing  the  popular  cause  in  the 
controversy  between  the  legislature  and  the  clergy,  touch 
ing  the  stipend  which  was  claimed  by  the  latter.  In  1765, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  with 
express  reference  to  an  opposition  to  the  British  stamp  act. 
In  this  assembly  he  obtained  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
to  commence  the  opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  British 
government,  which  terminated  in  the  revolution.  He  was 
one  of  the  delegates  sent  by  Virginia  to  the  first  General 
Congress  of  the  colonies,  in  1774,  and  in  that  body  dis 
tinguished  himself  by  his  boldness  and  eloquence.  In 
1776,  he  was  appointed  the  first  governor  of  the  common 
wealth,  and  to  this  office  was  repeatedly  reflected.  In 
1786,  he  was  appointed  by  the  legislature  one  of  the  dep 
uties  to  the  Convention  held  at  Philadelphia,  for  the 
purpose  of  revising  the  federal  constitution.  In  1788,  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Convention  which  met  in  Virginia 
to  consider  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  ex 
erted  himself  strenuously  against  its  adoption.  In  1794 
he  retired  from  the  bar,  and  died  in  1799.  Without  ex 
tensive  information  upon  legal  or  political  topics,  he  was 
a  natural  orator  of  the  highest  order,  possessing  great 
powers  of  imagination,  sarcasm,  and  humor,  united  with 
great  force  and  energy  of  manner,  and  a  deep  knowledge 
of  human  nature. 

HOWARD,  JOHN  EAGER,  an  officer  of  the  army  of 
the  American  revolution,  was  born  in  Baltimore,  in  1752. 
After  serving  in  the  rank  of  captain,  in  1779,  he  was 
appointed  lieutenant-colonel,  and  distinguished  himself  by 
his  valor  and  activity  during  the  war.  At  the  battle  of 
Cowpens,  Colonel  Howard,  at  one  time,  had  in  his  hands 
the  swords  of  seven  officers  who  had  surrendered  to  him 
personally.  He  was  also  present  at  the  battles  of  German- 
town,  White  Plains,  Monmouth,  Camden,  and  Hobkirks 
Hill.  On  the  disbanding  of  the  army,  he  retired  to  his 


478  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

patrimonial  estates,  near  Baltimore,  and  was  subsequently 
governor  of  Maryland,  and  member  of  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  He  died  in  1827.  General  Greene  said 
of  him,  that,  as  a  patriot  and  soldier,  he  deserved  a  statue 
of  gold  no  less  than  Roman  and  Grecian  heroes. 

HEATH,  WILLIAM,  an  officer  in  the  army  of  the 
revolution,  was  born  in  Roxbury,  in  1737,  and  was  bred  a 
fanner.  He  was  particularly  attentive  to  the  study  of 
military  tactics,  and  in  1775  he  was  commissioned  as  a 
brigadier-general  by  the  Provincial  Congress.  In  1776,  he 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major-general  in  the  conti 
nental  army,  and  in  the  campaign  of  that  year  commanded 
a  division  near  the  enemy's  lines,  at  King's  Bridge  and 
Morrisania.  During  the  year  1777,  and  till  November, 
1778,  he  was  the  commanding  officer  of  the  eastern  de 
partment,  and  his  head-quarters  were  at  Boston.  In  1779, 
he  returned  to  the  main  army,  and  was  invested  with  the 
chief  command  of  the  troops  on  the  east  side  of  the  Hud 
son.  After  the  close  of  the  war,  he  served  in  several  pub 
lic  offices,  till  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1814, 

HAMILTON,  ALEXANDER,  was  born  in  the 
Island  of  Nevis,  in  1757.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  ac 
companied  his  mother  to  New  York,  and  was  placed  at 
Columbia  College,  where  he  soon  gave  proof  of  extraordi 
nary  talent,  by  the  publication  of  some  political  essays,  of 
such  strength  and  sagacity  that  they  were  generally  attrib 
uted  to  Mr.  Jay.  At  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  entered  the 
American  army,  and  in  1777  was  appointed  aid-de-camp 
of  Washington,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.  In 
this  capacity  he  served  during  the  remainder  of  the  war, 
and,  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  led  in  person  the  de 
tachment  that  carried  by  assault  one  of  the  enemy's  out 
works.  After  the  war,  he  commenced  the  study  of  the  law, 
entered  into  its  practice  in  New  York,  and  soon  rose  to 
distinction.  In  1782,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  Congress 
from  the  state  of  New  York;  in  1787,  a  member  of  the 
Convention  which  formed  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  in  1787  and  1788  wrote,  in  connection  with 
Mr.  Jay  and  Mr.  Madison,  the  essays  published  under  the 
title  of  the  Federalist.  In  1789,  he  was  placed  by  Wash 
ington  at  the  head  of  the  treasury  department,  and, 


SELECT    LIVES.  479 

while  in  this  situation,  rendered  the  most  efficient  service 
to  the  country  by  the  establishment  of  an  admirable 
system  of  finance,  which  raised  public  credit  from  the 
lowest  depression  to  an  unprecedented  height.  In  1795, 
he  retired  from  office,  in  order  to  secure,  by  his  profes 
sional  labors,  a  more  ample  provision  for  his  numerous 
family.  In  1793,  his  public  services  were  again  required, 
to  take  the  second  command  in  the  army  that  was  raised 
on  account  of  the  apprehended  invasion  of  the  French. 
On  the  disbanding  of  the  army,  he  resumed  the  practice 
of  the  law  in  New  York,  and  continued  to  acquire  new 
success  and  reputation.  In  1804,  he  fell  in  a  duel  with 
Colonel  Burr,  vice-president  of  the  United  States,  and 
died  universally  lamented  and  beloved.  Besides  his  share 
in  the  Federalist,  General  Hamilton  was  the  author  of 
numerous  congressional  reports,  the  essays  of  Pacificus, 
and  the  essays  of  Phocion.  A  collection  of  his  works  in 
three  vols.  8vo.  was  issued  at  New  York  some  time  after 
his  death.  He  was  a  man  of  transcendent  abilities  and 
unsullied  integrity,  and  no  one  labored  more  efficiently 
in  the  organization  of  the  present  federal  government. 

HUMPHREYS,  DAVID,  minister  of  the  United  States 
to  the  court  of  Spain,  was  born  in  Connecticut,  in  1753, 
and  received  his  education  at  Yale  College.  Soon  after 
the  commencement  of  the  revolutionary  war,  he  entered 
the  army,  and  was  successively  an  aid  to  Parsons,  Putnam, 
Greene,  and  Washington.  He  left  the  army  with  the  rank 
of  colonel.  In  1784,  he  was  appointed  secretary  of  lega 
tion  to  Paris,  and  was  subsequently  ambassador  to  the 
court  of  Lisbon,  and  in  1797  minister  plenipotentiary  to 
the  court  of  Madrid.  While  in  the  military  service,  he 
published  a  poem  addressed  to  the  American  armies,  and, 
nf'er  the  war,  another  on  the  happiness  and  glory  of 
Amend.  In  1789,  he  p/'.iblished  a  life  of  General  Putnam, 
aid,  wh;le  in  E  irope,  a  number  of  miscellaneous  poems. 
He  died  in  1818. 

HUTCHINS,  THOMAS,  was  born  in  New  Jersey, 
TV!  entered  the  army  in  the  Western  States  as  an  ensign. 
In  1779,  he  was  in  England,  and  was  imprisoned  some  time 
on  suspicion  of  holding  a  correspondence  with  Franklin 
i:i  France.  He  was  nominated  geographer-general  to  the 


480  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

United  States,  and  died  at  Pittsburg,  in  1789.  He  pub 
lished  an  historical  sketch  of  the  expedition  of  Bouquet 
against  the  Indians  of  Ohio,  in  1764 ;  a  topographical  de 
scription  of  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Caro 
lina,  with  maps,  (London,  1778  ;)  an  historical  account  of 
Louisiana,  &,c.,  (1784.) 

HUTCHINSON,  THOMAS,  a  governor  of  the  colony 
of  Massachusetts,  was  born  in  Boston,  in  1711,  and  was 
graduated  at  Harvard  College.  He  was  for  a  while  occu 
pied  with  commercial  pursuits,  but  soon  engaged  in  the 
study  of  law  arid  politics,  and  was  sent  agent  to  Great  Brit 
ain.  On  his  return,  he  was  elected  a  representative,  and 
after  a  few  years  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  house,  and  in 
1752  judge  of  probate.  After  being  a  member  of  the 
Council,  lieutenant-governor,  and  chief  justice,  in  1771  he 
received  his  commission  as  governor  of  Massachusetts.  In 
1774,  he  was  removed  from  his  office,  and  was  succeeded 
by  General  Gage.  He  then  repaired  to  England,  fell  into 
disgrace,  and  died  in  retirement  in  1780.  He  is  the 
author  of  a  valuable  history  of  Massachusetts,  some  occa 
sional  essays,  and  a  pamphlet  on  colonial  claims.  It  is 
said  that  no  man  contributed  more  effectually  to  bring 
about  the  separation  between  the  colonies  and  Great  Brit 
ain  than  Hutchinson. 

JAY,  JOHN,  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in 
1745.  He  was  graduated  at  Columbia  College,  in  1764, 
and  in  1768  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  socn  rose  to 
eminence  as  a  lawyer,  and  began  to  take  an  active  part  in 
politics.  In  1774,  he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  first 
Congress.  In  May,  1776,  he  was  recalled  from  Congress 
by  the  Provincial  Convention,  to  aid  in  forming  the  gov 
ernment  for  the  province;  and  to  this  it  is  owing  that  his 
name  does  not  appear  among  the  signers  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  state 
government,  in  1777,  Mr.  Jay  was  appointed  chief  justice, 
and  held  this  office  till  1779.  In  November,  1778,  he  was 
again  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Continental  Congress,  and, 
three  days  after  taking  his  seat,  was  elected  president  of 
that  venerable  body.  In  September,  1779,  he  was  ap 
pointed  minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  court  of  Spain, 
and  he  arrived  at  Cadiz  in  January  of  the  following  year 


SELECT    LIVES.  481 

Having  resigned  his  commission  as  minister  in  1783,  in 
1784  he  returned  to  the  United  States,  and  was  placed  at 
tne  head  of  the  department  for  foreign  affairs.  In  this  post 
he  remained  till  the  adoption  of  the  present  constitution, 
when  he  was  appointed  chief  justice  of  the  United  States. 
In  1794,  he  was  sent  as  envoy  extraordinary  to  Great  Brit 
ain,  and  before  his  return,  in  1795,  he  had  been  elected 
governor  of  his  native  state.  In  1798,  he  was  reflected  to 
this  office,  and  in  1801,  went  into  voluntary  retirement. 
The  remainder  of  his  life  was  passed  in  the  faithful  dis 
charge  of  the  charitable  duties,  and  he  was  publicly 
known  only  by  the  occasional  appearance  of  his  name,  or 
the  employment  of  his  pen,  in  the  service  of  philanthropy 
and  piety.  He  died  in  1829.  Besides  a  variety  of  state 
papers  and  political  essays,  Mr.  Jay  was  the  author  of  the 
3d,  3d,  4th,  5th,  and  64th  numbers  of  the  Federalist. 

JONES,  JOHN  PAUL,  a  native  of  Scotland,  was 
born,  in  1747,  at  Selkirk,  and  settled  in  America  when 
young.  He  distinguished  himself  by  his  bravery  in  the 
American  service,  during  the  contest  with  the  mother 
country,  particularly  in  a  desperate  action  with  the  Serapis 
frigate,  which  he  captured.  He  died  in  Paris,  in  1792,  and 
was  buried  at  the  expense  of  the  National  Convention. 
Jones  was  not  only  a  man  of  signal  courage,  but  also  of 
great  talent,  and  keen  sagacity,  wrote  poetry,  and  in 
France  aspired  to  be  a  man  of  fashion.  His  memorials 
and  correspondence  are  quite  voluminous. 

JOHNSON,  Sir  WILLIAM,  a  military  officer,  who 
served  with  distinction  in  North  Carolina,  was  born  in 
Ireland,  about  the  year  1714.  Early  in  life  he  came  to 
America,  and  settled  on  the  Mohawk,  and  carried  on  an 
extensive  traffic  with  the  Indians.  In  1755,  he  command 
ed  the  provincial  troops  of  New  York  in  the  expedition 
against  Crown  Point,  and  for  his  services  received  from 
the  House  of  Commons  the  gift  of  ^5000,  and  from  the 
king  the  title  of  baronet.  He  died  in  1774.  He  was 
shrewd,  brave,  and  successful. 

JACKSON,  JAMES,  an  officer   in   the    army  of  the 

American  revolution,  was  born  in  England,  in  1757.     In 

1772,  he  emigrated  to  America,  and  settled  in  Georgia. 

He  served  with  distinction  during  the  war,  and  displayed 

41 


482  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

much  intrepidity.  On  the  disbanding  of  the  army,  he 
commenced  the  practice  of  the  law,  to  which  he  had  been 
educated,  in  Georgia,  and  soon  obtained  a  lucrative  amount 
of  business.  After  having  been  a  member  of  the  state 
legislature,  and  successively  colonel,  brigadier-general,  and 
major-general,  in  the  militia,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of 
Congress,  and  died  in  Washington,  in  1806. 

KNOX,  HENRY,  an  American  general,  was  born  in 
Boston,  in  1750,  and,  after  receiving  a  common  school  ed 
ucation,  commenced  business  as  a  bookseller  in  his  native 
town.  He  took  an  early  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  revolu 
tion,  and  was  present  as  a  volunteer  at  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill.  For  his  services  in  procuring  some  pieces  of  ord 
nance  from  the  Canadian  frontiers,  he  was  intrusted  by 
Congress  with  the  command  of  the  artillery  department, 
with  the  rank  of  brigadier-general.  He  was  present  and 
displayed  great  skill  and  courage  at  the  battles  of  Trenton, 
Princeton,  Germantown,  and  Monmouth,  and  contributed 
greatly  to  the  capture  of  Cornwallis.  Immediately  after 
this  event,  he  received  from  Congress  the  commission  of 
major-general.  In  1785,  he  succeeded  General  Lincoln 
in  the  office  of  secretary  of  war,  and,  having  filled  this  de 
partment  for  eleven  years,  he  obtained  a  reluctant  permis 
sion  to  retire  into  private  life.  In  1798,  when  our  rela 
tions  with  France  were  assuming  a  cloudy  aspect,  he  was 
called  upon  to  take  a  command  in  the  army;  but  the 
peaceful  arrangement  of  affairs  soon  permitted  him  to  re 
turn  into  his  retirement.  He  died  at  Thomaston,  Maine, 
in  1806.  In  private  life  he  was  amiable,  in  his  public 
character  persevering,  and  of  unsurpassed  courage. 

LEE,  ARTHUR,  an  eminent  American  patriot,  was 
born  in  Virginia,  in  1740,  and  received  his  education  in 
England,  taking  his  degree  of  M.  D.  at  the  University  of 
Edinburgh.  He  then  returned  to  his  native  state,  and  for 
some  years  practised  physic  at  Williamsburg  ;  but  political 
affairs  were  then  assuming  so  interesting  an  aspect,  that 
he  again  went  to  England,  and  entered  on  the  study  of  law 
in  the  Temple.  In  1770,  he  visited  London,  and  became 
a  member  of  the  famous  society  of  the  supporters  of  the 
bill  of  rights.  His  political  publications  at  this  period, 
under  the  signature  of  Junius  Americanus,  were  numerous, 


SELECT    LIVES.  483 

and  procured  for  him  the  acquaintance  of  the  leaders  of 
the  popular  party.  In  1776,  he  was  appointed  minister  to 
France,  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Franklin  and  Mr.  Dearie, 
and  assisted  in  negotiating  the  treaty  with  that  nation.  In 
1779,  in  consequence  of  the  false  accusations  of  Mr.  Deane, 
complaints  of  his  political  conduct  were  freely  circulated  at 
home,  and  in  the  following  year  he  resigned  his  appoint 
ments  and  returned.  In  1781,  he  was  elected  to  the  As 
sembly  of  Virginia,  and  by  this  body  returned  to  Congress, 
where  he  continued  to  represent  the  state  till  1785.  In 
1784,  he  was  employed  to  arrange  a  treaty  with  the  six 
Indian  nations.  He  was  next  called  to  the  board  of 
treasury,  where  he  continued  till  1789,  when  he  went 
into  retirement.  He  died  in  1792. 

LEE,  CHARLES,  a  major-general  in  the  army  of  the 
American  revolution,  was  born  in  North  Wales,  and  be 
came  an  officer  at  the  age  of  11  years.  He  served  at  an 
early  age  in  America,  and  afterwards  distinguished  him 
self  under  General  Burgoyne,  in  Portugal.  He  subse 
quently  entered  the  Polish  service,  wandered  all  over 
Europe,  killed  an  Italian  officer  in  a  duel,  and  in  1773 
sailed  for  New  York.  Espousing  the  cause  of  the  colonies, 
he  received  a  commission  from  Congress  in  1775,  with  the 
rank  of  major-general.  In  1776,  he  was  invested  with  the 
command  at  New  York,  and  afterwards  with  the  chief 
command  in  the  southern  department.  In  December, 
1776,  he  was  made  prisoner  by  the  English,  as  he  lay, 
carelessly  guarded,  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the 
main  body  of  the  army  in  New  Jersey.  He  was  kept 
prisoner  till  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  in  1777,  and 
treated  in  a  manner  unworthy  of  a  generous  enemy.  In 
1778,  he  was  arraigned  before  a  court-martial,  in  conse 
quence  of  his  misconduct  at  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  and 
was  suspended  from  any  commission  in  the  army  of  the 
United  States  for  one  year.  He  retired  to  a  hovel  in  Vir 
ginia,  living  in  entire  seclusion,  surrounded  by  his  books 
and  his  dogs.  In  1782,  he  went  to  reside  at  Philadelphia, 
where  he  died  in  obscurity  in  October  of  the  same  year. 
He  was  a  man  of  much  energy  and  courage,  with  consid 
erable  literary  attainments,  but  morose  and  avaricious. 
He  published  essays  on  military,  literary,  and  political 


484  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

subjects,  which,  with  his  extensive  correspondence,  were 
collected  in  a  volume  in  1792.  The  authorship  of  the 
Letters  of  Junius  has  been  ascribed  to  him. 

LEE,  HENRY,  a  distinguished  officer  in  the  Amer 
ican  revolutionary  army,  was  born  in  Virginia,  in  1756, 
and  was  graduated  at  the  college  in  Princeton.  In  1776 
he  was  a  captain  of  one  of  the  six  companies  of  cavalry, 
raised  by  Virginia,  and  afterwards  incorporated  into  one 
regiment,  arid  in  1777  added  to  the  main  body  of  the  pro 
vincials.  At  the  battle  of  Germantown,  Lee  was  selected, 
with  his  company,  to  attend  Washington  as  his  body-guard. 
In  1780,  being  raised  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  he 
was  sent,  with  his  legion,  to  the  army  of  the  south,  under 
General  Greene,  and  continued  with  it  till  the  end  of  the 
war.  He  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  Eutaw 
Springs,  and  in  the  ensuing  October  was  sent  on  a  special 
commission  to -the  commander-in-chief,  then  employed  in 
the  siege  of  Yorktown.  In  1786,  he  was  appointed  a  del 
egate  to  Congress,  from  the  state  of  Virginia,  arid  remained 
in  that  body  till  the  adoption  of  the  present  constitution. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  state  Convention  which  ratified 
that  instrument,  and  in  1792,  he  was  raised  to  the  chair 
of  governor  of  Virginia.  In  1799,  he  was  again  a  member 
of  Congress,  and,  while  there,  selected  to  pronounce  a 
funeral  oration  on  the  death  of  Washington.  The  latter 
years  of  his  life  were  embarrassed  by  want;  and  it  was 
while  confined  for  debt  in  the  limits  of  Spottsylvania 
county,  that  he  prepared  for  publication  his  excellent  Me 
moirs  of  the  southern  campaign.  He  was  severely  wounded 
during  the  riot  in  Baltimore,  in  1814,  and  his  health  rap 
idly  declined.  He  died  on  Cumberland  Island,  Georgia, 
in  1818. 

LINCOLN,  BENJAMIN,  a  major-general  in  the  Amer 
ican  army,  was  born  in  Hingham,  Massachusetts,  in  1733, 
and  until  the  age  of  forty  years  was  engaged  in  the  pursuits 
of  agriculture.  At  the  commencement  of  the  revolution, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  in 
1776  received  the  commission  of  major-general,  and  em 
ployed  himself  vigorously  to  improve  the  discipline  of  the 
militia.  He  was  second  in  command  in  the  army  which 
compelled  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne.  On  the  day  after 


SELECT    LIVES.  485 

the  battle  of  Stillwater,  he  received  a  dangerous  wound  in 
his  leg,  and  was  confined  for  several  months  by  its  effects. 
In  the  following  year,  he  was  appointed  to  the  command 
of  the  southern  department,  and  while  in  this  post  he  at 
tempted  the  defence  of  Charleston,  but  was  compelled  to 
capitulate  in  May,  1780.  He  was  exchanged  in  Novem 
ber,  and  in  the  spring  following  joined  the  army  on  the 
North  River.  At  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  he  commanded  a 
central  division,  and  shared  largely  in  the  dangers  and 
honors  of  the  day.  In  1781,  he  was  appointed  secretary 
of  the  war  department,  and  afterwards,  on  several  occasions, 
commissioner  to  treat  with  the  Indians.  On  the  establish 
ment  of  peace,  he  returned  to  his  native  state,  and  in  1787 
was  appointed  to  command  the  troops  employed  in  the 
suppression  of  the  insurgents  in  Massachusetts.  In  1788, 
he  was  chosen  lieutenant-governor,  and  in  the  following 
year  he  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  which  ratified 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  He  died  in  1810. 
He  was  the  author  of  several  published  letters  and  essays, 
a  member  of  the  American  Academy  of  the  Arts  and 
Sciences,  and  president  of  the  Society  of  Cincinnati  of 
Massachusetts. 

LEWIS,  MERIWETHER,  a  celebrated  explorer,  was 
born  in  Virginia,  in  1774,  and,  after  receiving  a  good 
school  education,  engaged  in  agriculture.  When  General 
Washington  called  out  a  body  of  militia  in  consequence 
of  the  discontent  produced  by  the  excise  taxes,  young 
Lewis  entered  as  a  volunteer,  and  from  that  situation  was 
removed  to  the  regular  service.  In  1803,  he  was  sent  by 
President  Jefferson  on  an  exploring  expedition  to  the  north 
western  part  of  our  continent ;  and  of  this  expedition,  which 
was  completed  in  about  three  years,  and  in  which  he  was 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Clarke,  a  highly-interesting  account 
was  afterwards  published.  Lewis  was  subsequently  ap 
pointed  governor  of  the  Louisiana  territory.  He  put  an 
end  to  his  own  life  in  1809.  He  was  a  man  of  energy, 
perseverance,  and  of  a  sound  understanding. 

LAURENS,  HENRY,  an  American  patriot  and  states 
man,  was  born  at  Charleston,  S.  C.,in  1724.  After  re 
ceiving  a  good  school  education,  he  engaged  in  commerce, 
and  soon  amassed  an  ample  fortune.  At  the  breaking  out 
41* 


486  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

of  the  revolution,  he  was  in  London ;  but  he  immediately 
returned  to  his  native  country,  and  in  1776  was  elected  a 
delegate  to  the  General  Congress.  He  was  soon  chosen 
president  of  this  body,  and  remained  so  till  the  close  of 
the  year  1778.  In  1779,  he  received  the  appointment  of 
minister  plenipotentiary  to  Holland,  but  on  his  way  thither 
was  captured  by  the  British,  and  committed  to  the  Tower, 
where  he  was  in  confinement  fourteen  months.  He  was 
one  of  the  commissioners  for  negotiating  a  peace  with 
Great  Britain,  and  in  1783  he  signed,  with  Jay  and  Frank 
lin,  the  preliminaries  of  the  treaty.  His  health,  however, 
was  much  impaired,  and  he  soon  returned  home,  and  passed 
the  remainder  of  his  life  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He  died 
in  1792. 

LAURENS,  JOHN,  lieutenant-colonel,  son  of  the  pre 
ceding,  was  liberally  educated  in  England,  and,  having 
returned  to  his  native  country,  joined  the  American  army 
in  1777.  He  displayed  prodigies  of  valor  at  Brandy- 
wine,  Germantown,  Monmouth,  Savannah,  and  Charleston, 
and  was  killed,  at  the  very  close  of  the  war,  by  carelessly 
exposing  himself  in  a  trifling  skirmish.  In  1780,  he  was 
sent  as  a  special  minister  to  France,  to  negotiate  a  loan ; 
and,  after  being  subjected  to  a  vexatious  delay,  he  deter 
mined  to  present  a  memorial  to  the  king  in  person  at  the 
levee.  This  purpose  he  carried  into  effect ;  the  memorial 
was  graciously  received,  and  the  object  of  negotiation 
satisfactorily  arranged. 

LAWRENCE,  JAMES,  an  officer  of  the  American 
navy,  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  in  1781,  and  became  a 
midshipman  in  1798.  In  1803,  he  was  sent  to  the  Medi 
terranean,  as  first  lieutenant  to  the  schooner  Enterprise, 
and,  while  there,  distinguished  himself  by  his  activity  and 
valor.  He  remained  on  this  station  for  three  years,  and 
then  returned  to  the  United  States,  having  been  transferred 
to  the  frigate  John  Adams.  In  February,  1813,  he  was 
in  command  of  the  Hornet,  and  took  the  fine  British  brig 
Peacock,  after  an  action  of  fifteen  minutes.  On  his  return 
to  the  United  States,  he  was  transferred  to  the  frigate  Chesa 
peake,  and  in  June  of  the  same  year,  while  engaged  in 
battle  with  the  frigate  Shannon,  he  received  a  mortal 
wound.  His  last  exclamation,  as  they  were  carrying  him 


SELECT    LIVES.  487 

below,  was,  "  Don't  give  up  the  ship."  He  lingered  in 
great  pain  for  four  days,  when  he  died.  His  remains 
were  buried  at  Halifax. 

LIVINGSTON,  ROBERT  R.,  a  celebrated  American 
statesman  and  lawyer,  was  born  in  New  York,  and  was 
educated  at  King's  College.  He  engaged  in  the  profession 
of  the  law,  and  was  elected  to  the  first  General  Congress  of 
the  colonies,  where  he  was  one  of  the  committee  appoint 
ed  to  prepare  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  In  1780, 
he  was  appointed  secretary  of  foreign  affairs,  and,  at  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution  of  New  York,  chancellor 
of  that  state.  This  last  office  he  held  till  1804,  when 
he  was  sent  minister  plenipotentiary  to  France.  It  was 
in  Paris  that  he  formed  a  personal  friendship  with  Robert 
Fulton,  whom  he  materially  assisted.  In  1805,  he  re 
turned  to  the  United  States,  and  devoted  the  remainder 
of  his  life  to  the  promotion  of  agriculture,  and  the  arts. 
He  died  in  1813. 

LANGDON,  JOHN,  a  distinguished  American  patriot, 
was  born  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  in  1739.  He  engaged  in 
commerce,  and  took  an  early  and  efficient  interest  in  the 
cause  of  the  colonies.  He  was  successively  a  delegate  to 
the  General  Congress,  navy  agent,  speaker  of  the  Assembly 
of  his  native  state,  president  of  his  native  state,  a  delegate 
to  the  Convention  that  framed  the  federal  constitution, 
and  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  In 
18D5,  he  was  chosen  governor  of  his  state,  and  again  in 
1810.  He  died  in  1819. 

LLOYD,  JAMES,  was  born  in  Boston,  in  1769.  and, 
after  graduating  at  Harvard  College,  entered  into  com 
mercial  pursuits,  and  spent  some  time  in  Europe.  In  1808, 
he  was  elected  by  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  a  sen 
ator  in  Congress,  and  for  five  years  conducted  himself  with 
great  prudence  and  firmness,  during  a  period  of  great  po 
litical  excitement.  In  18*22,  he  was  again  appointed  to  the 
national  Senate,  and  was  distinguished  for  his  application 
to  business.  In  1826,  he  published,  at  Boston,  a  pamphlet 
on  the  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Commerce  of  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  on  the  British  Colonial  In 
tercourse.  He  died  at  New  York,  in  1831. 

LOWELL,    JOHN,  an  eminent  American  lawyer,  was 


488  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

born  at  Newbury,  in  1744,  and  was  educated  at  Harvard 
College.  He  studied  law,  and,  rising  to  reputation,  in 
1761,  he  removed  to  Boston,  and  soon  distinguished  him 
self  by  his  political  knowledge  and  eloquence.  In  1781, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress,  and,  on  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  federal  government,  was  appointed  a  judge 
of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States.  In  these  situa 
tions  he  was  much  respected  for  his  legal  knowledge  and 
dignity.  He  died  in  1802. 

JLAFAYETTE,  GILBERT  MOTTIER,  was  born  in 
Auvergne,  in  the  south  of  France,  September  6,  1757. 
About  two  years  after  his  birth,  his  father  fell  in  the  battle 
of  M iinden.  The  orphan  was  placed  at  the  College  ofDu 
Plessis,  where  he  received  a  highly-finished  education,  and, 
in  his  subsequent  eventful  career,  often  gave  evidence  of 
the  industry  of  his  youth.  At  the  age  of  seventeen,  he 
married  the  daughter  of  the  duke  d'Ayen,  son  of  the 
duke  de  Noailles.  Though  nursed  in  the  bosom  of  afflu 
ence^  surrounded  by  the  splendors  of  a  proud  monarchy, 
courted  by  the  most  powerful  of  the  aristocracy,  the  pro 
tege  of  the  queen  herself,  he  yet  preserved  a  heart  which 
responded  to  the  cry  for  liberty,  that,  from  a  distant  land, 
claimed  sympathy  among  the  slaves  of  European  despots. 

He  had  been  but  two  years  married  to  one  of  the  most 
noble,  faithful,  heroic  women  that  ever  blessed  "  the  sunny 
soil  of  his  delightful  France,"  when  he  determined  to  for 
sake  all,  and  to  give  his  fortune,  his  very  life,  if  it  were 
needful,  to  the  cause  of  liberty  in  a  distant  land,  of  which 
even  the  name  was  scarce  known  to  the  proud  inmates  of 
the  court  in  which  he  moved.  He  applied  to  the  American 
agents  at  Paris  for  a  passage  to  America,  which,  in  their 
poverty,  they  were  unable  to  supply.  "  Then,"  said  he,  "  I 
shall  purchase  and  fit  out  a  vessel  for  myself."  He  did  so. 
With  a  fortune  of  $25,000  per  annum,  he  determined  that 
the  poverty  of  those  whom  he  designed  to  aid,  should  not 
detain  him.  But  before  he  could  embark,  he  was  arrested 
by  some  officers,  sent  for  that  purpose  from  the  French 
court,  from  whom  he  made  his  escape.  In  the  disguise  of 
a  postilion,  with  blackened  face  and  crisped  hair,  he  rode 
forward,  and  ordered  horses  for  a  coach,  which  he  had  pro 
cured  for  the  purpose,  as  if  to  receive  him  on  the  road, 


SELECT    LIVES.  489 

which,  of  course,  should  the  officers  overtake  it,  would  at 
tract  their  chief  attention.  He  thus  arrived  in  safety  at 
Passage,  when  he  immediately  put  to  sea.  He  requested 
the  captain  to  steer  at  once  to  some  port  in  the  United 
States,  and,  on  his  refusing  to  do  so,  through  fear  of  the 
French  and  British  cruisers,  Lafayette  first  gave  him  a 
bond  for  40,000  francs,  and  then  threatened  that,  if  further 
delay  occurred,  he  would  have  him  put  in  irons,  and  give 
the  command  of  his  vessel  to  the  mate.  The  captain 
yielded,  and  they  arrived  in  safety  at  Charleston,  S.  C., 
April  25,  1777. 

His  arrival  was  to  the  astonished  Americans  the  star  of 
hope,  the  joyful  omen  of  ultimate  success.  A  short  time 
before,  it  had  seemed  to  them  that  the  last  embers  of  ex 
piring  liberty  were  to  be  trodden  out  on  the  plains  of  New 
Jersey,  and  that  their  friends  in  Europe  would  sing  the 
requiem  of  the  martyred  Washington  and  his  high-souled 
associates.  But  now  all  eyes  are  turned  to  the  illustrious 
stranger.  He  joins  the  family  of  their  beloved  chief;  he 
refuses  the  honors  of  a  grateful  people,  till  he  has  done 
something  to  deserve  them.  He  pours  out  his  treasure  like 
water,  to  feed,  clothe,  and  equip  a  corps  of  two  thousand 
men,  at  whose  head,  with  the  commission  of  major-general, 
he  rushes  into  the  field  of  strife.  On  the  plains  of  Brandy- 
wine  he  is  wounded ;  with  a  far  inferior  force,  he  baffles 
the  veteran  Cornwallis,  when  the  latter  believed,  and  had 
announced  in  an  intercepted  letter,  that  "  the  boy  could 
not  escape  him." 

No  longer  now  is  seen  the  brow  of  American  patriots 
overcast  with  gloom,  no  longer  is  heard  the  voice  of  de 
spondency  ;  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the  youthful  stranger,  they 
read  the  hearts  of  European  millions,  they  see  the  ap 
proaching  aid  of  powerful  France,  they  read  the  doom 
of  England's  power  in  America. 

Having  remained  about  two  years  in  America,  he  re 
turned  to  France  to  plead  her  cause,  and  solicited  aid. 
On  his  arrival,  he  held  a  long  conference  with  Maurepas, 
the  French  minister,  but  was  not  permitted  to  see  the  king. 

His  house,  nevertheless,  was  thronged  with  the  elite  of 
the  French  capital,  and  from  every  hand  the  cup  of  adula 
tion  was  proffered  to  his  acceptance.  But  the  importance 


490  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

of  his  mission  suffered  him  not  to  repose  in  careless  inac 
tivity.  He  labored  incessantly  with  the  French  govern 
ment  to  induce  them  to  send  us  a  fleet  and  troops,  and, 
when  he  felt  sure  of  success,  he  -again  embarked  for 
America,  and  on  his  arrival  announced  the  important  intel 
ligence  to  Washington.  The  year  following,  he  visited 
France,  to  make  still  greater  exertions  in  our  favor.  Con 
gress  passed  a  resolution  requesting  all  our  foreign  ministers 
to  confer  with  him  in  all  their  negotiations  concerning  our 
affairs.  He  arrived  in  Fiance,  and  received  the  plaudits 
of  the  whole  nation.  Even  the  drama  lent  its  aid  to  swell 
the  popular  enthusiasm.  But  amid  the  honors  that  were 
thus  heaped  upon  him,  he  never  forgot  the  stern  duties  of 
his  mission,  and  at  length  succeeded  in  obtaining  an  order 
to  Count  d'Estaing,  as  soon  as  Lafayette  should  join  him, 
to  sail  with  forty-nine  ships  and  twenty  thousand  men. 
But  before  the  necessary  preparations  were  made,  he  had 
the  satisfaction  of  announcing  peace,  in  a  letter  to  Con 
gress,  dated  in  the  harbor  of  Cadiz,  February  5,  1783. 

After  travelling  in  Prussia,  he  returned  to  France,  and 
became  a  member  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  where  he 
made  a  motion,  which  no  one  dared  to  second,  calling 
for  an  election  of  representatives  of  the  states  general.  In 
two  years  from  that  time,  his  plan  was  carried  into  effect. 
Dissatisfaction  at  the  existing  order  of  things  continued  to 
increase,  and  sectional  jealousies  arose.  The  people  of 
Paris  were  indignant  that  the  royal  family  chose  to  reside 
at  Versailles,  rather  than  at  Paris,  where  the  influence  of 
the  latter  city  might  be  more  immediately  felt.  They 
mounted  the  blue  and  red  cockade,  to  which  Lafayette 
added  white,  the  royal  color,  remarking,  when  he  fixed 
it  to  his  hat,  that  "  it  would  go  around  the  world." 

On  the  5th  of  October,  Lafayette,  having  learned  that 
a  mob  of  one  hundred  thousand  ferocious  men  and  wo 
men  had  gone  to  Versailles,  hastened,  with  a  part  of  the 
National  Guards,  to  protect  the  royal  family.  But,  on  ar 
riving  at  Versailles,  he  was  permitted  only  to  occupy  the 
outposts  of  the  palace,  a  measure  that  had  nearly  proved 
fatal  to  the  queen  ;  for  in  the  night  the  populace  were  ad 
mitted  to  the  palace  by  private  passages,  and  the  queen  had 
barely  time  to  escape  from  the  room,  half  naked,  ere  the 


SELECT    LIVES.  491 

guard  of  her  chamber  was  forced  :  at  this  moment,  La 
fayette,  with  some  guards,  rushed  in  and  saved  her. 

The  Jacobin  clubs  found  in  him  no  supporter ;  yet  La 
fayette  voted  for  the  decree  abolishing  titles,  and  re 
nounced  his  own,  which  he  never  after  resumed.  lie  ad 
vocated  and  procured  the  adoption  of  a  representative 
constitution,  when,  in  imitation  of  his  great  commander, 
he  retired  to  his  quiet  retreat  at  La  Grange. 

The  war  with  Austria,  in  1792,  called  him  from  this  re 
treat,  and  required  him  to  resume  a  command  in  the  army. 
Meanwhile,  the  Jacobin  clubs  became  more  violent,  mak 
ing  demonstrations  of  designs  so  dangerous,  that  Lafayette, 
unable  longer  to  keep  silence,  wrote  a  letter  denouncing 
their  designs,  which  was  read  in  the  National  Assembly ; 
and  so  great  was  their  power  at  that  time,  that  the  letter 
was  pronounced  a  forgery.  The  members  could  not  be 
lieve  any  man  bold  enough  to  dare  their  vengeance.  But 
Lafayette  appeared  in  the  Assembly,  and  acknowledged  the 
letter,  when  even  the  Jacobins  shrank  from  an  open  contest 
with  him,  but  set  into  operation  the  infernal  machinery 
which  at  once  laid  low  the  loftiest  heads  in  France.  La 
fayette  foresaw  the  coming  storm,  and,  attended  by  three 
of  his  officers,  left  the  French  camp,  intending  to  pass 
through  the  Austrian  camp,  reach  the  frontiers  of  France, 
and  thence  embark  for  America.  They  were,  however, 
arrested  the  first  night,  by  the  Austrian  patroles,  given  over 
to  the  Prussians,  and  sent  to  Wesel,  on  the  Rhine,  thence 
to  Magdeburg ;  whence  they  were  transferred  to  the  Aus- 
trians,  and  finally  sent  to  the  citadel  of  Olmutz.  Lafayette 
was  told,  on  his  entrance,  that  he  had  seen  the  light  of  day 
for  the  last  time ;  that  he  should  no  more  have  the  least 
communication  with  the  world,  or  its  events;  that  his  very 
name  would  be  unknown  to  all  in  and  around  his  prison ; 
that  he  would  be  mentioned  in  the  prison  reports  merely  by 
the  number  of  his  room,  and  that  no  intelligence  of  his  fate 
would  ever  be  suffered  to  reach  his  friends.  For  three  years 
these  refined  cruelties  were  practised  upon  him,  apparently 
with  the  design  of  breaking  down  his  great  spirit. 

But,  during  all  this  time,  his  friends  left  no  means  un 
tried  to  discover  the  place  of  his  confinement.  They 
employed  Count  Lally  Tollendal  to  prosecute  inquiries  in 


492  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

every  direction.  Dr.  Erick  Bolleman  was  employed  as  an 
agent  in  the  business.  After  laboring,  with  no  success,  for 
a  long  time,  he  at  length  traced  them  to  the  several  pris 
ons  in  which  they  had  been  confined,  and  paused,  at  last, 
before  the  very  citadel  of  Olmutz.  Here  he  succeeded  in 
forming  an  acquaintance  with  the  surgeon  of  the  prison, 
from  whom  he  learned  that  they  had  one  prisoner  of  great 
importance,  respecting  whom  the  most  profound  secrecy 
was  preserved.  After  many  inquiries  cautiously  made, 
Bolleman  was  convinced  that  he  had  discovered  the  object 
of  his  search.  He  opened  a  communication  with  the 
prisoner  by  means  of  the  surgeon,  and  found  that  he  was 
understood ;  he  also  ascertained  that  the  prisoner  was  al 
lowed  occasionally  to  ride,  attended  by  an  officer,  with  a 
guard  behind  the  carriage.  He  communicated  his  project, 
based  on  the  information  he  had  obtained,  to  Mr.  Francis 
K.  Huger.  He  entered  with  ardor  into  the  plan.  They 
procured  two  saddle  horses,  and  trained  one  of  them  to  carry 
two  riders.  On  the  day  appointed  for  making  the  attempt, 
they  saw  the  carriage  leave  the  prison,  and  advanced  to 
meet  it,  exchanging  signs  with  the  prisoner  as  they  passed. 
They  soon  turned,  and  followed  the  carriage  at  a  distance, 
for  several  miles,  till  they  arrived  at  a  spot  remote  from 
any  habitations,  when  Lafayette  and  the  officer  left  the 
carriage,  and  retired  to  a  distance  from  the  guards.  This 
was  the  moment  selected  to  effect  their  design.  They 
suddenly  seized,  bound,  and  gagged  the  officer,  while  the 
guard  fled  to  raise  the  alarm  at  the  citadel.  One  of  the 
horses  had  escaped,  and  Lafayette  was  put  upon  the  other, 
and  told  to  go  to  HofT,  which  he  unfortunately  understood 
as  a  direction  to  go  off.  This  he  did  without  any  design 
or  plan  of  escape.  The  other  horse  was  soon  recovered, 
and  Bolleman  and  Huger  mounted  him  to  follow  La 
fayette  ;  but  the  animal  proved  intractable,  and  threw  them 
off,  after  which  Huger  mounted  alone,  and  rode  full  speed 
to  Hoff,  where,  of  course,  he  found  not  Lafayette. 

In  a  short  time,  they  were  all  three  under  the  roof  of  the 
citadel  at  Olmutz,  where  Huger  was  chained  to  the  floor, 
and  Lafayette  was  led  to  believe  that  his  friends  were  to 
be  executed  before  his  window,  and  that  he  was  reserved 
for  the  same  fate. 


SELECT    LIVES.  493 

His  heroic  wife  and  his  two  daughters  now  claimed  ad 
mission  to  his  dungeon,  which  was  granted  only  on  condi 
tion  that  they  should  never  leave  it.  Here,  literally  buried 
alive,  in  the  moist,  unhealthy,  and  loathsome  dungeon,  for 
twenty-two  months,  they  strove  to  sustain  and  cheer  the 
spirits  of  the  suffering  patriot.  At  length  the  exhausted 
powers  of  his  wife  required  that  she  should  leave  the  dun 
geon  to  save  her  life,  and  she  received  permission  to  do  so, 
only  on  condition  that  she  should  never  return — a  boon 
which  she  indignantly  refused,  arid  then  prepared  to  die 
with  her  husband. 

But  now,  the  voice  of  France  was  heaud  in  remonstrance 
at  this  outrageous  treatment  of  a  French  citizen,  and  ne 
gotiations  were  commenced  to  effect  his  liberation  ;.  which, 
after  a  series  of  protracted  delays,  was  effected,  and  La 
fayette  went  with  his  family  to  reside  in  Holstein,  whence, 
in  about  a  year,  he  departed  for  Utrecht,  and  returned 
thence  to  France.  During  the  consulship  of  Napoleon, 
and  under  the  imperial  dynasty,  he  steadily  refused  all  dis 
tinction  offered  him,  that  was  not  derived  from  the  con 
sent  of  the  French  people :  refused  to  acknowledge  the 
right  of  Napoleon  to  assume  the  imperial  purple,  and  never 
failed  to  present  to  the  eyes  of  all  Europe  an  illustrious 
instance  of  disinterested  patriotism,  derived  from  the  ex 
ample  of  his  "  adored  commander."  After  the  lapse  of 
nearly  fifty  years,  he  again  landed  on  the  shores  of  his 
adopted  country.  At  the  moment  of  his  landing,  he  was 
embraced  in  the  arms  of  a  whole  people ;  all  sectional 
jealousies,  all  party  animosities,  were  forgotten  in  the 
universal  peal  of  "  Welcome,  Lafayette,"  that  resounded 
from  every  hamlet  and  city  in  our  land.  European  des 
potism  quailed  at  the  sound,  and  from  that  moment  Euro 
pe  in  serfs  have  less  patiently  endured  their  bondage,  and 
striven  to  burst  their  chains. 

In  his  calm  retreat  at  La  Grange,  to  which  the  eyes  of 
the  whole  civilized  world  were  turned  with  the  joy  of 
demons  or  the  sorrow  of  angels,  the  philanthropic  hero,  at 
the  acre  of  77,  breathed  his  last,  May  20th,  1834. 

MORGAN,  DANIEL,  a  distinguished  officer  in  the 
army  of  the  American  revolution,  was  born  in  New  Jersey, 
42 


494  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

and  removed  to  Virginia  in  1755.  He  enlisted  in  Brad- 
dock's  expedition  as  a  private  soldier,  and,  on  the  defeat 
of  that  general,  returned  to  his  occupation  as  a  farmer. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  he  was  appointed 
to  the  command  of  a  troop  of  horse,  and  joined  the  army 
under  Washington,  then  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston. 
He  distinguished  himself  very  much  in  the  expedition 
against  Quebec,  where  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
On  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  he  rejoined  the  American 
army,  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  a  select  rifle 
corps,  and  detached  to  assist  General  Gates  on  the  north 
ern  frontier,  where  he  contributed  materially  to  the  capture 
of  General  Burgoyne.  After  a  short  retirement  from  ser 
vice,  on  account  of  ill  health,  he  was  appointed  brigadier- 
general  by  brevet,  and  commanded  the  force  by  which 
Colonel  Tarleton  was  routed  at  the  battle  of  Cowpeus.  He 
soon  after  resigned  his  commission.  In  1794,  he  com 
manded  the  militia  of  Virginia  called  out  to  suppress  the 
insurrection  in  Pennsylvania,  and  continued  in  the  service 
till  1795.  He  afterwards  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  Con 
gress.  He  died  in  1799. 

MORGAN,  JOHN,  an  eminent  American  physician, 
was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  1735,  and  was  educated  at 
the  college  in  that  city.  He  completed  his  medical  studies 
in  Europe,  and,  on  his  return  in  1765,  was  elected  profess 
or  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  medicine  in  the  medical 
college  in  Philadelphia.  In  October,  1775,  he  was  ap 
pointed  chief  physician  to  the  general  hospitals  of  the 
American  army,  but  in  1775,  was  removed  on  account  of 
certain  accusations  which  he  afterwards  proved  to  be  en 
tirely  groundless.  He  died  in  1789.  He  was  the  author 
of  several  medical  treatises. 

MARION,  FRANCIS,  a  distinguished  officer  in  the 
American  army,  was  born  in  South  Carolina,  in  1732,  and 
first  served  in  1761,  as  lieutenant  against  the  Cherokees. 
Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  he  re 
ceived  a  major's  commission,  and,  in  1780,  he  obtained 
that  of  brigadier-general.  He  continually  surprised  and 
captured  parties  of  the  British  and  the  royalists  by  the  se 
crecy  and  rapidity  of  his  movements.  On  the  evacuation 


SELECT    LIVES.  495 

of  Charleston,  he  retired  to  his  plantation,  where  he  died 
in  1795.  He  was  bold,  generous,  and  severe  in  his  dis 
cipline. 

MORTON,  NATHANIEL,  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  Plymouth,  New  England,  and  a  magistrate  of  the  col 
ony,  was  the  author  of  a  history  of  the  church  at  Plym 
outh,  and  of  a  volume  called  New  England's  Memorial. 
This  work  was  originally  published  in  1669,  and  a  new 
edition  of  it  has  been  recently  issued, 

NICHOLSON,  JAMES,  an  officer  in  the  American 
navy,  was  born  in  Chestertown,  Maryland,  in  1737.  He 
followed  the  life  of  a  sailor  till  the  year  1763,  when  he 
married,  and  settled  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Here  he 
remained  until  1771,  when  he  returned  to  his  native  prov 
ince.  At  the  commencement  of  the  revolution,  the  gov 
ernment  of  Maryland  built  and  equipped  a  ship  of  war, 
called  the  Defence,  and  the  command  of  her  was  intrusted 
to  Nicholson.  He  performed  various  exploits  during  the 
war,  and,  before  the  close  of  it,  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
carried  into  New  York.  He  died  in  1806. 

OLIVER,  ANDREW,  was  graduated  at  Harvard  Col 
lege,  in  1724,  and  was  early  engaged  in  public  employ 
ments,  succeeded  Hutchinson,  as  lieutenant-governor  of 
Massachusetts,  in  1771,  and  retained  that  office  till  his 
death,  in  1774.  He  rendered  himself  very  unpopular  by 
accepting  from  the  British  government  the  office  of  stamp 
distributor  of  the  province. 

OTIS,  JAMES,  a  distinguished  American  statesman, 
was  born  at  West  Barnstable,  Massachusetts,  in  1725,  and 
was  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1743.  He  pursued 
the  profession  of  the  law,  and,  establishing  himself  in  Bos 
ton,  soon  rose  to  eminence.  His  public  career  may  be 
said  to  have  opened  with  his  celebrated  speech  against 
writs  of  assistance.  At  the  next  election,  he  was  chosen  a 
representative  to  the  legislature,  and  soon  became  the 
leader  of  the  popular  party.  In  1765,  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Congress  which  assembled  at  New  York.  In  1769, 
he  was  severely  wounded  in  an  assault  committed  upon 
him  by  some  British  officers ;  from  one  of  whom  he  recov 
ered  large  damages,  which  he  remitted  on  receiving  a 
written  apology.  In  1772,  he  retired  from  public  life,  and, 


496  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

in  May  of  the  following  year,  was  killed  by  a  stroke  of 
lightning.  He  was  a  good  scholar,  a  learned  and  able 
lawyer,  a  bold  and  commanding  orator,  arid  possessed  in 
finite  powers  of  humor  and  wit. 

PARSONS,  THEOPHILUS,  a  distinguished  lawyer, 
was  born  at  Byeneld,  Massachusetts,  in  1750,  and  gradu 
ated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1769.  He  studied,  and  pur 
sued  the  practice  of  the  law,  for  some  years,  in  Falmouth, 
now  Portland ;  but,  when  that  town  was  destroyed  by  the 
British,  he  retired  to  the  house  of  his  father  in  Newbury. 
About  a  year  afterwards,  he  opened  an  office  in  Newbury- 
port.  He  soon  rose  to  the  highest  rank  in  his  profession, 
and  made  immense  acquisitions  in  legal  knowledge.  His 
professional  services  were  sought  for  in  all  directions,  and, 
after  thirty-five  years  of  extensive  practice,  he  was  appointed 
chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts.  In 
1780,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  which  formed 
the  constitution  of  the  state,  and  of  the  Convention  which 
accepted  the  federal  constitution.  He  was  a  powerful 
speaker,  without  a  rival  in  knowledge  of  law,  and  surpassed 
by  few  in  his  acquaintance  with  science  and  classical  liter 
ature.  He  continued  in  the  seat  of  chief  justice  till  his 
death,  in  1813. 

PICKERING,  TIMOTHY,  an  American  statesman, 
was  born  in  Salem,  in  1746,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
College,  in  1763.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  popular 
cause,  and,  in  organizing  the  provisional  government  of 
Massachusetts  in  1775,  was  appointed  a  judge  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  for  Essex,  and  sole  judge  of  the  Mari 
time  Court  for  the  middle  district.  During  the  war,  he 
was  appointed  adjutant-general,  and  subsequently  a  mem 
ber  of  the  board  of  war.  From  1790  to  1798,  at  diifer- 
ent  intervals,  he  was  employed  on  various  negotiations 
with  the  Indians.  He  was  successively  postmaster-gen 
eral,  secretary  of  war,  and  secretary  of  state.  From  the  last 
office  he  was  removed  by  President  Adams,  in  1800.  From 
1803  to  1811,  he  was  a  senator  in  Congress  from  his  na 
tive  state,  and  from  1814  to  1817,  a  representative  in  that 
body.  In  public  life,  he  was  distinguished  for  firmness, 
energy,  activity,  and  disinterestedness.  He  died  in  Salem, 
in  1829. 


SELECT    LIVES.  497 

PRATT,  BENJAMIN,  chief  justice  of  New  York, 
was  born  in  Massachusetts,  in  1710,  and  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  College.  He  studied  law,  and,  entering  on  its 
practice  in  Boston,  soon  became  eminent.  Turning  his 
attention  to  public  affairs,  he  soon  rose  to  political  dis 
tinction,  and,  by  the  influence  of  Governor  Pownell,  was 
appointed  chief  justice  of  New  York.  He  died  in  Jan 
uary,  1763.  He  had  made  collections  for  a  history  of  New 
England,  and  possessed  considerable  talent  for  poetry. 

PETERS,  RICHARD,  an  eminent  judge,  was  born  in 
June,  1744,  and  received  his  education  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia.  He  adopted  the  profession  of  the  law,  and 
soon  obtained  an  extensive  practice.  At  the  commence 
ment  of  hostilities  with  the  mother  country,  Mr.  Pe 
ters  joined  the  side  of  the  colonies,  and,  in  1776,  was 
appointed,  by  Congress,  secretary  of  the  board  of  war. 
His  exertions  in  this  department  were  highly  meritorious 
and  useful;  and,  on  resigning  the  post,  in  1781,  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  Congress,  and  assisted  in  closing  the 
business  of  the  war.  On  the  organization  of  the  new 
government,  Mr.  Peters  was  appointed  judge  of  the  Dis 
trict  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  and  performed  the  duties  of 
this  office  for  thirty-six  years.  During  this  time,  he  was 
engaged  in  several  objects  of  public  improvement,  and 
issued  several  valuable  publications  in  relation  to  agricul 
ture.  As  a  judge,  he  possessed  powers  of  a  high  order,  and 
his  decisions  on  admiralty  law  form  the  groundwork  of 
this  branch  of  our  jurisprudence.  Their  principles  were 
not  only  sanctioned  by  our  own  courts,  but  were  simul 
taneously  adopted  by  Lord  Stowell,  the  distinguished  marU 
time  judge  of  Great  Britain.  Judge  Peters  died  in  Au^ 
gust,  1828. 

3  PINCKNEY,  CHARLES  COTESWORTH,  a  dis 
tinguished  officer  of  the  revolutionary  army,  was  born  in 
South  Carolina,  received  his  education  in  England,  and 
studied  law  in  the  Temple.  On  returning  to  his  native 
province,  in  1769,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  successful 
practice  of  his  profession.  On  the  commencement  of  hos 
tilities,  he  renounced  law  for  the  study  of  military  tactics, 
and  was  soon  promoted  to  the  command  of  the  first  regi~ 
ment  of  Carolina  infantry.  He  was  subsequently  aid-de- 
42* 


498  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

camp  to  Washington,  and,  in  this  capacity,  at  the  battles 
of  Brandy  wine  and  Germantown.  On  the  surrender  of 
Charleston,  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  remained  so  till  all 
opportunity  of  gaining  fresh  reputation  in  the  field  had 
passed.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  which 
formed  the  federal  constitution,  and,  in  1796,  was  ap 
pointed  minister  to  France.  When  preparations  were 
making  for  war  on  account  of  the  expected  French  inva 
sion,  Mr. Pinckney  was  nominated  a  major-general;  but  he 
soon  had  an  opportunity  of  retiring  to  the  quiet  of  private 
life.  He  was  afterwards  president  of  the  Cincinnati  So 
ciety  of  the  United  States.  He  died  in  1825. 

PUTNAM,  ISRAEL,  an  officer  in  the  army  of  the 
American  revolution,  was  born  in  Salem,  Massachusetts, 
in  1718.  He  received  but  a  meagre  education,  and,  re 
moving  to  Connecticut,  engaged  in  agriculture.  In  the 
French  war,  he  commanded  a  company,  and  was  engaged 
in  several  contests  with  the  enemy.  In  1756,  he  fell 
into  an  ambuscade  of  savages,  and  was  exposed  to  the 
most  cruel  tortures.  He  obtained  his  release  in  1 759,  and 
returned  to  his  farm.  Soon  after  the  battle  at  Lexington, 
he  joined  the  army  at  Cambridge,  was  appointed  major- 
general,  and  distinguished  himself  at  Bunker's  Hill.  In 
1776,  he  was  sent  to  complete  the  fortifications  at  New 
York,  and  afterwards  to  fortify  Philadelphia.  In  the  win 
ter  of  1777,  he  was  stationed  with  a  small  body  at  Prince 
ton,  and  in  the  spring  appointed  to  a  command  in  the  High 
lands,  where  he  remained  most  of  the  time  till  the  close  of 
1779,  when  he  was  disabled  by  an  attack  of  paralysis. 
He  died  in  1790.  He  was  brave,  energetic,  and  one  of 
the  most  efficient  officers  of  the  revolution. 

POCAHONTAS,  daughter  of  an  Indian  chief,  and 
much  celebrated  in  the  early  history  of  Virginia,  was  born 
about  the  year  1595.  She  became  warmly  attached  to  the 
English,  and  rendered  them  important  services  on  various 
occasions.  She  married  an  Englishman,  and,  in  1616, 
accompanied  her  husband  to  his  native  country,  where  she 
was  presented  at  court.  She  soon  after  died  at  Graves- 
end,  when  about  to  return  to  Virginia.  She  left  one  son. 

PARKER,  ISAAC,  an  eminent  lawyer,  was  born  in 
Boston,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1786.  He 


SELECT    LIVES.  499 

studied  law  in  the  office  of  Judge  Tudor,  and  commenced 
practice  at  Castine,  in  Maine,  then  an  integral  part  of  Mas 
sachusetts.  Removing  to  Portland,  he  was  sent,  for  one 
term,  to  Congress,  as  a  representative  from  Cumberland 
county.  He  also  held,  for  a  short  time,  the  office  of  United 
States  marshal  for  that  district.  In  180(5,  he  was  appointed, 
by  Governor  Strong,  associate  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Massachusetts,  and  soon  after  took  up  his  residence  at 
Boston.  In  1814,  he  was  appointed  chief  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  held  that  office  till  his  sudden  death 
in  July,  1830,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three  years.  He  was 
distinguished  for  urbanity,  and  his  legal  opinions  are  very 
highly  respected. 

PULASKI,  count,  a  celebrated  soldier,  was  a  na 
tive  of  Poland,  and  made  brave  though  unsuccessful  efforts 
to  restore  his  country  to  independence.  He  came  to  the 
United  States  during  the  revolutionary  war,  and  was  ap 
pointed  a  brigadier-general  in  the  American  army.  He 
was  mortally  wounded  in  the  attack  on  Savannah,  in  1779. 
Congress  voted  to  erect  a  monument  to  his  memory. 

QUINCY,  JOSIAH,  a  distinguished  lawyer  and  pa 
triot,  was  born  in  Boston,  in  1743,  and  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  College.  He  soon  became  eminent  in  the  prac 
tice  of  law,  and  distinguished  by  his  active  exertions  in 
the  popular  cause.  His  powers  of  eloquence  were  of  a 
very  high  order.  In  1774,  he  took  a  voyage  to  Europe 
for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  and  to  advance  the  interests 
of  the  colonies.  He  died  on  his  return,  on  the  25th  of 
April,  1775,  the  day  the  vessel  reached  the  harbor  of  Cape 
Ann. 

REED,  JOSEPH,  a  patriot  of  the  American  revolution, 
was  graduated  at  the  college  in  New  Jersey,  in  1 757.  While 
a  member  of  Congress,  in  1778,  the  British  commissioner 
endeavored  to  procure  his  influence  to  bring  about  a  recon 
ciliation  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country  ;  he 
rejected  their  offers  with  the  reply,  "  That  he  was  not 
worth  purchasing;  but,  such  as  he  was,  the  king  of  Great 
Britain  was  not  rich  enough  to  buy  him."  In  1778,  he 
was  chosen  president  of  Pennsylvania,  and  retained  that 
office  till  his  death,  in  1781. 

RITTENHOUSE,  DAVID,  a  celebrated  mathemati- 


500  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

cian,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1732.  During  his 
early  life,  he  was  employed  in  agriculture ;  but,  as  his  con 
stitution  was  feeble,  he  became  a  clock  and  mathematical 
instrument  maker.  In  1770,  he  removed  to  Philadelphia, 
and  practised  his  trade.  He  was  elected  a  member,  and 
for  some  time  president,  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  and 
one  of  the  commissioners  employed  to  determine  the 
boundary  line  between  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  and  be 
tween  New  York  and  Massachusetts.  He  was  treasurer 
of  Pennsylvania  from  1777  to  1789,  and  from  1792  to 
1795,  director  of  the  United  States  mint.  His  death  took 
place  in  1796.  His  mathematical  talents  were  of  the 
highest  order. 

RAMSAY,  DAVID,  an  American  historian,  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania,  in  1749,  was  educated  at  Princeton  Col 
lege,  and  commenced  the  study  of  medicine.  After  prac 
tising  a  short  time  in  Maryland,  he  removed  to  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  in  1773,  and  soon  rose  to  an  extensive 
practice.  He  took  an  active  and  early  part  in  the  cause 
of  the  colonies,  and  was  for  some  time  a  surgeon  in  the 
revolutionary  army.  In  1782,  he  was  chosen  to  a  seat  in 
Congress.  He  wrote  a  History  of  the  Revolution  in  South 
Carolina;  a  History  of  the  American  Revolution;  a  Life 
of  Washington  ;  a  History  of  South  Carolina ;  and  a  His 
tory  of  the  United  States.  He  died  in  1815. 

REEVE,  TAPPING,  an  eminent  lawyer,  was  born  at 
Brook  Haven,  in  1744,  and  was  graduated  at  Princeton 
College.  He  established  himself  as  a  lawyer  in  Litchfield, 
Connecticut,  where  he  founded  the  law  school,  of  which, 
for  nearly  thirty  years,  he  was  the  principal  instructor.  He 
was  for  many  years  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that 
state,  and  some  time  chief  justice.  His  legal  attainments 
were  of  a  high  order,  and,  as  a  man,  he  possessed  the 
esteem  and  respect  of  the  community. 

STRONG,  CALEB,  governor  of  Massachusetts,  was 
born  at  Northampton,  in  1744,  and  graduated  at  Harvard 
College.  He  pursued  the  profession  of  the  law,  and  estab 
lished  himself  in  his  native  town.  Taking  an  early  and 
active  part  in  the  revolutionary  movements,  he  was  ap 
pointed,  in  1775,  one  of  the  committee  of  safety,  and,  in 
the  following  year,  a  member  of  the  state  legislature.  He 


SELECT    LIVES.  501 

was  a  member  of  the  Convention  which  formed  the  consti 
tution  of  the  state,  and  of  that  which  formed  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States.  Subsequently  he  was  a  senator 
to  Congress,  and  for  eleven  years,  at  different  periods,  chief 
magistrate  of  Massachusetts.  He  died  in  1820. 

SEDGWICK,  THEODORE,  was  born  at  Hartford,  in 
1746,  was  educated  at  Yale  College,  and,  removing  to 
Massachusetts,  pursued  the  study  of  the  law.  He  em 
barked  with  spirit  in  the  cause  of  the  popular  party  before 
the  revolution,  held  a  seat  several  years  in  the  state  legis 
lature,  and  was  a  member  of  Congress  under  the  old 
confederation.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts 
Convention  to  decide  on  the  adoption  of  the  federal  consti 
tution,  was  a  representative  and  senator  to  Congress,  and, 
in  1802,  was  appointed  judge  of  the  Supreme  Judicial 
Court  of  Massachusetts.  In  this  office  he  remained  till 
his  death,  in  1813. 

SMITH,  JOHN,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Virginia, 
was  born  in  Lincolnshire,  in  1579.  After  passing  through 
a  variety  of  wonderful  adventures,  he  resolved  to  visit 
North  America ;  and  having,  with  a  number  of  other  per 
sons,  procured  a  charter  of  South  Virginia,  he  came  over 
thither  in  1697.  Being  taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians, 
and  condemned  to  death,  his  life  was  saved  by  the  daugh 
ter  of  the  savage  chief,  the  celebrated  Pocahontas.  He 
published  an  account  of  several  of  his  voyages  to  Virginia, 
a  history  of  that  colony,  and  an  account  of  his  own  life. 
He  died  at  London,  in  1631. 

SULLIVAN,  JOHN,  an  officer  in  the  army  of  the 
American  revolution,  was  born  in  Maine,  and  established 
himself  in  the  profession  of  law  in  New  Hampshire. 
Turning  his  attention  to  military  affairs,  he  received,  iri 
1772,  the  commission  of  major,  and,  in  1775,  that  of  brig 
adier-general.  The  next  year,  he  was  sent  to  Canada,  and, 
on  the  death  of  General  Thomas,  the  command  of  the 
army  devolved  on  him.  In  this  year,  he  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  major-general,  and  was  soon  after  captured  by 
the  British  in  the  battle  on  Long  Island.  He  commanded 
a  division  of  the  army  at  the  battles  of  Trenton,  Brandy- 
wine,  and  Gennantown,  and  was  the  sole  commander  of 
an  expedition  to  the  Island  of  Newport,  which  failed 


o02  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

through  want  of  cooperation  from  the  French  fleet.  In 
1779,  he  commanded  an  expedition  against  the  Indians. 
He  was  afterwards  a  member  of  Congress,  and  for  three 
years  president  of  New  Hampshire.  In  1789,  he  was  ap 
pointed  a  judge  of  the  District  Court,  and  continued  in  that 
office  till  his  death,  in  1795. 

SULLIVAN,  JAMES,  was  born  at  Berwick,  Maine, 
in  1744,  and,  after  passing  the  early  part  of  his  life  in  agri 
cultural  pursuits,  adopted  the  profession  of  the  law.  He 
took  an  early  part  in  the  revolutionary  struggle,  and  in 
1775  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress. 
In  1776,  he  was  appointed  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court. 
He  was  subsequently  a  member  of  Congress,  a  member  of 
the  executive  council,  judge  of  probate,  and,  in  1790,  was 
appointed  attorney-general.  In  1807,  he  was  elected  gov 
ernor  of  Massachusetts,  arid  again  in  the  following  year,  in 
the  December  of  which  he  died.  He  was  the  author  of  a 
History  of  Land  Titles,  a  History  of  the  District  of  Maine, 
and  an  Essay  on  Banks.  His  rank  at  the  bar  was  in  the 
very  first  class,  and  in  his  private  character  he  was  distin 
guished  for  piety,  patriotism,  and  integrity. 

STARK,  JOHN,  a  general  in  the  army  of  the  Ameri 
can  revolution,  was  born  in  Londonderry,  New  Hampshire, 
in  1728.  During  the  French  war,  he  was  captain  of  a 
company  of  rangers  in  the  provincial  service,  in  1755,  and 
was  with  Lord  Howe  when  that  general  was  killed,  in 
storming  the  French  lines  at  Ticonderoga,  in  1758.  On 
receiving  the  report  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  he  was  en 
gaged  at  work  in  his  saw-mill  ;  and,  fired  with  indignation, 
seized  his  musket,  and  immediately  proceeded  to  Cam 
bridge,  He  was  at  the  battles  of  Bunker's  Hill  and  of 
Trenton,  and  achieved  a  glorious  victory  at  Bennington. 
He  rose  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  and  was  distin 
guished  throughout  the  war  for  enterprise  and  courage. 
He  died  in  1822, 

STEUBEN,  FREDERICK  WILLIAM  AUGUSTUS, 
baron  de,  was  a  Prussian  officer,  aid-de-camp  to  Fred- 
erick  the  Great,  and  lieutenant-general  in  the  army  of 
that  distinguished  commander.  He  arrived  in  America  in 
1777,  and  immediately  offered  his  services  to  the  Conti 
nental  Congress,  In  1778,  he  was  appointed  inspector- 


SELECT    LIVES.  503 

general,  with  the  rank  of  major-general,  and  rendered  the 
most  efficient  services  in  the  establishment  of  a  regular 
system  of  discipline.  During  the  war,  he  was  exceedingly 
active  and  useful,  and  after  the  peace,  he  retired  to  a  farm 
in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  where,  with  the  assistance 
of  books  and  friends,  he  passed  his  time  as  agreeably  as  a 
frequent  want  of  funds  would  permit.  The  state  of  New 
York  afterwards  gave  him  a  tract  of  sixteen  thousand 
acres  in  the  county  of  Oneida,  and  the  general  government 
made  him  a  grant  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars 
per  annum.  He  died  in  1795,  and,  at  his  own  request,  was 
wrapped  in  his  cloak,  placed  in  a  plain  coffin,  and  hid  in 
the  earth,  without  a  stone  to  tell  where  he  was  laid. 

STANDISH,  MILES,  the  first  captain  at  Plymouth, 
New  England,  was  born  at  Lancashire,  in  1534,  and  ac- 
compinied  Mr.  Robinson's  congregation  to  Plymouth,  in 
16*29.  His  services  in  the  wars  with  the  Indians  were 
highly  useful,  and  many  of  his  exploits  were  daring  and 
extraordinary.  He  died  in  1656. 

TRUMBULL,  JOHN,  the  author  of  McFingal,  was 
born  in  Connecticut,  in  1751),  and  was  educated  at  Yale 
College,  where  he  entered  at  a  very  early  age.  In  1772, 
he  published  the  first  part  of  his  poem,  the  Progress  of 
Dulness.  In  the  following  year,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  Connecticut,  arid,  removing  to  Boston,  continued 
his  legal  studies  in  the  office  of  John  Adams.  He  re 
turned  to  h  s  native  state  in  1774,  and  commenced  prac 
tice  at  New  Haven.  The  first  part  of  McFingal  was  pub 
lished  at  Philadelphia,  in  1775  :  the  poem  Was  completed 
and  published  in  1782,  at  Hartford,  where  the  author  at 
that  time  lived.  More  than  thirty  editions  of  this  work 
have  been  printed.  In  1789,  he  was  appointed  state-attor 
ney  for  the  county  of  Hartford,  and,  in  1891,  was  appoint 
ed  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Errors,  and  held  this 
appointment  till  1819.  In  1829,  a  collection  of  his  poems 
was  published  in  two  volumes,  8vo.  In  1825,  he  removed 
to  Detroit,  where  he  died,  in  May,  1831. 

TYLER,  ROYALL,  a  lawyer  and  miscellaneous  wri 
ter,  was  born  in  Boston,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  Col 
lege,  in  1776.  In  1799,  he  removed  his  residence  to  Ver 
mont,  and  soon  distinguished  himself  in  his  profession  of 


504  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

law.  For  six  years  he  was  an  associate  judge  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  that  state,  and  for  six  years  more  chief 
justice.  He  was  the  author  of  several  dramatic  pieces  of 
considerable  merit;  a  novel,  called  the  Algerine  Captive; 
and  numerous  pieces,  in  prose  and  verse,  published  in  the 
Farmers'  Museum,  when  edited  by  Dennie.  In  addition 
to  these,  he  published  two  volumes,  entitled  Vermont  Re 
ports.  He  died  at  Brattleborough,  in  1825. 

TILGHMAN,  WILLIAM,  an  eminent  jurist,  was 
born  in  1756,  in  Talbot  county,  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
Maryland.  In  1772,  he  began  the  study  of  law  in  Phila 
delphia,  but  was  not  admitted  to  the  practice  of  the  profes 
sion  till  1783.  In  1788,  and  for  some  successive  years,  he 
was  elected  a  representative  to  the  legislature  of  Mary 
land.  In  1793,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and  pursued 
the  practice  of  the  law  in  that  city  till  1801,  when  he  was 
appointed  chief  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States  for  the  third  circuit.  After  the  abolition  of  this 
court,  he  resumed  his  profession,  and  continued  in  it  till 
1805,  when  he  was  appointed  president  of  the  Courts  of 
Common  Pleas  in  the  first  district  of  Pennsylvania.  In 
the  following  year,  he  was  commissioned  as  chief  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  that  state.  He  died  in  1827. 

TUDOR,  WILLIAM,  a  man  of  letters,  was  born  in 
the  state  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
College,  in  1796.  He  soon  after  visited  Europe,  and 
passed  several  years  there.  After  having  been  some  time 
a  member  of  the  legislature  of  his  native  stale,  he  was 
appointed,  in  1823,  consul  at  Lima  and  for  the  ports  of 
Peru.  In  1827,  he  was  appointed  charge  d'affaires  of  the 
United  States  at  the  court  of  Brazil.  He  died  at  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  in  1830.  Mr.  Tudor  was  the  founder,  and  for 
two  years  the  sole  editor,  of  the  North  American  Review. 
He  was  the  author  of  Letters  on  the  Eastern  States,  and  a 
Life  of  James  Otis,  and  left  a  number  of  volumes  in  manu 
script,  nearly  prepared  for  the  press. 

WILLIAMS,  OTHO  HOLLAND,  an  officer  in  the 
American  army,  was  born  in  Maryland,  in  1748,  served  in 
various  capacities  during  the  revolutionary  war,  and  fought 
at  the  battles  of  Guilford,  Hobkirk's  Hill,  and  the  Eutaws. 
Before  the  disbanding  of  the  army,  he  was  made  brigadier- 


SELECT    LIVES.  505 

general.  For  several  years,  he  was  collector  at  Baltimore. 
He  died  in  1794. 

WINTHROP,  JOHN,  first  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
was  born  at  Groton,  England,  in  1.5S7.  He  arrived,  with 
the  colonists,  in  Salern,  in  1639,  having  a  commission  as 
their  governor,  and  held  this  office,  with  the  exception  of 
six  or  seven  years,  till  his  death,  in  1649.  He  kept  a 
minute  journal  of  the  affairs  of  the  colony,  which  has  been 
publishe  I,  and  possesses  much  value. 

WINTHROP,  JOHN,  son  of  the  foregoing,  was  born 
in  England,  in  1605,  and  received  his  education  at  Cam 
bridge.  He  came  to  Massachusetts  in  1633,  Hnd,  subse 
quently  visiting  England,  returned,  and  established  a  colo 
ny  at  Saybrook,  Connecticut.  In  1657,  he  was  chosen 
governor  of  that  colony,  and  remained  so  till  his  death,  in 
1676.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  love  of  natural  philos 
ophy,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Royal  Society 
of  London. 

WINTHROP,  JAMES,  a  man  of  letters,  was  born  at 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  in  1752,  and  was  graduated  at 
Harvard  College.  He  was  for  twenty  years  librarian  of 
that  institution.  His  acquirements  in  the  exact  sciences, 
the  ancient  and  modern  languages,  and  in  biblical  and  po 
lite  literature,  were  extensive.  He  died  in  1821. 

WHEELOCK,  JOHN,  was  born  at  Lebanon,  Con 
necticut,  in  1754.  During  the  revolution,  he  held  the  com 
mission  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and  obtained  some  military 
reputation.  In  1779,  he  became  president  of  Dartmouth 
College,  New  Hampshire,  and,  in  1782,  visited  Europe  to 
obtain  contributions  for  that  seminary.  He  remained  in 
that  office  for  thirty-six  years.  His  death  took  place  in 
1817. 

WARREN,  JOSEPH,  a  patriot  of  the  American  revo 
lution,  was  born  in  Roxbury,  near  Boston,  in  1741,  and 
was  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1759.  He  pursued 
the  profession  of  medicine,  and,  soon  after  commencing 
the  practice,  distinguished  himself  by  his  successful  treat 
ment,  of  the  small-pox.  Early  engaging  in  politics,  he  ob 
tained  great  influence,  and  rendered  efficient  service  by 
his  writings  and  addresses.  He  was  twice  elected  to 
deliver  the  oration  in  commemoration  of  the  massacre  on 
43 


506  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  5th  of  March.  In  June,  1775,  the  Provincial  Con 
gress  of  Massachusetts,  of  which  he  was  at  this  time 
president,  made  him  a  major-general  of  their  forces.  At 
the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill  he  fought  as  a  volunteer,  and 
was  slain  within  a  few  yards  of  the  breastwork,  as  he  was 
among  the  last  slowly  retiring  from  it.  He  was  a  man  of 
the  most  generous  and  intrepid  spirit,  much  elegance  of 
manners,  and  of  commanding  eloquence.  His  loss  was 
deeply  felt  and  regretted.  In  1770,  his  remains  were 
removed  from  the  battle-ground,  and  interred  in  Boston. 

WARREN,  JAMES,  was  born  at  Plymouth,  in  1726, 
and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  in  1745.  He  took 
an  early  and  active  part  in  the  cause  of  the  colonies 
against  the  aggressions  of  the  mother  country,  was  a 
member  of  the  General  Court,  proposed  the  establish 
ment  of  committees  of  correspondence,  and,  after  the 
death  of  General  Warren,  was  appointed  president  of 
the  Provincial  Congress.  He  was  afterwards  appointed 
a  major-general  of  the  militia.  On  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution  of  Massachusetts,  he  was  for  many  years 
speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  died  at 
Plymouth,  in  1808. 

WASHINGTON,  BUSHROD,  an  eminent  judge,  was 
born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  and  was  educated 
at  William  and  Mary's  College.  He  pursued  the  study  of 
the  law  in  the  office  of  Mr.  Wilson,  of  Philadelphia,  and 
commenced  its  practice  with  great  success  in  his  native 
county.  In  1781,  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Dele 
gates  of  Virginia.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Alexandria, 
and  thence  to  Richmond,  where  he  published  two  volumes 
of  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Virginia.  In 
1798,  he  was  appointed  an  associate  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  continued  to  hold  this 
situation  till  his  death,  in  November,  1829.  He  was  the 
favorite  nephew  of  President  Washington,  and  was  the 
devisee  of  Mount  Vernon. 

WINDER,  WILLIAM  H.,  an  officer  in  the  American 
army,  was  born  in  Maryland,  in  1775,  was  educated  for  the 
bar,  and  pursued  his  profession  in  Baltimore  with  great 
success.  In  1812,  he  received  a  colonel's  commission,  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  and  served  with 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  507 

reputation  during  the  war  with  Great  Britain.  He  com 
manded  the  troops  at  the  battle  of  Bladensburg.  On  the 
declaration  of  peace,  he  resumed  the  practice  of  his  pro 
fession.  He  died  in  1824. 

WAYNE,  ANTHONY,  major-general  in  the  army  of 
the  United  States,  was  born,  in  1745,  in  Chester  county, 
Pennsylvania.  He  entered  the  army  as  colonel  in  1775, 
served  under  Gates  at  Ticonderoga,  and  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  brigadier-general.  He  was  engaged  in  the 
battles  of  Brandywine,  Germantovvn,  and  Morimouth,  in 
1779  captured  the  fortress  at  Stony  Point,  and  rendered 
other  important  services  during  the  war.  In  1787,  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania!!  Convention  which  ratified 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  In  1792,  he  suc 
ceeded  St.  Clair  in  the  command  of  the  western  army, 
and  gained  a  complete  victory  at  the  battle  of  the 
Miamis,  in  1794.  He  died  at  Presque  Isle,  in  1796. 


LIVES   OF  THE  PRESIDENTS   OF  THE 
UNITED   STATES. 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  the  illustrious  founder  of  Amer 
ican  independence,  was  born  in  1732,  in  the  county  of 
Fairfax,  in  Virginia,  where  his  father  was  possessed  of 
great  landed  property.  He  was  educated  under  the  care 
of  a  private  tutor,  and  paid  much  attention  to  the  study  of 
mathematics  and  engineering.  He  was  first  employed 
officially  by  General  Dinwiddie,  in  1753,  in  remonstrating 
to  the  French  commander  on  the  Ohio  for  the  infraction 
of  the  treaty  between  the  two  nations.  He  subsequently 
negotiated  a  treaty  of  amity  with  the  Indians  of  the  back 
settlements,  and  for  his  honorable  services  received  the 
thanks  of  the  British  government.  In  the  unfortunate  ex 
pedition  of  General  Braddock,  he  served  as  aid-de-camp; 


508  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

and,  on  the  fall  of  that  brave  but  rash  commander,  he  con 
ducted  the  retreat  to  the  corps  under  Colonel  Dunbar,  in 
a  manner  that  displayed  great  military  talent.  He  retired 
from  the  service  with  the  rank  of  colonel ;  but,  while  en 
gaged  in  agriculture  at  his  favorite  seat  of  Mount  Vernon, 
he  was  elected  senator  in  the  national  council  for  Freder 
ick  county,  and  afterwards  for  Fairfax.  At  the  commence 
ment  of  the  revolutionary  war,  he  was  selected  as  the  most 
proper  person  to  take  the  chief  command  of  the  provincial 
troops.  From  the  moment  of  taking  upon  himself  this 
important  office,  (in  June,  1775,)  he  employed  the  great 
powers  of  his  mind  to  his  favorite  object ;  and,  by  his 
prudence,  his  valor,  and  presence  of  mind,  he  deserved 
and  obtained  the  confidence  and  gratitude  of  his  country, 
and  finally  triumphed  over  all  opposition.  The  record  of 
his  services  is  the  history  of  the  whole  war.  He  joined 
the  army  at  Cambridge,  in  July,  1775.  On  the  evacuation 
of  Boston,  in  March,  1776,  he  proceeded  to  New  York. 
The  battle  of  Long  Island  was  fought  on  the  27th  of  Au 
gust,  and  the  battle  of  White  Plains  on  the  28th  of  Octo 
ber.  On  the  25th  of  December,  he  crossed  the  Delaware, 
and  soon  gained  the  victories  at  Trenton  and  Princeton. 

The  battle  of  Brandywine  was  fought  on  September 
llth,  1777;  of  Germantown,  October  4th;  of  Monmouth, 
February  28th,  1778.  In  1779  and  1780,  he  continued 
in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  and  closed  the  important 
military  operations  of  the  war  by  the  capture  of  Corn- 
wallis,  at  York  town,  in  1781.  When  the  independence 
of  his  country  was  established  by  the  treaty  of  peace, 
Washington  resigned  his  high  office  to  the  Congress,  and, 
followed  by  the  applause  and  the  grateful  admiration  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  retired  into  private  life.  His  high  charac 
ter  and  services  naturally  entitled  him  to  the  highest  gifts 
his  country  could  bestow;  and,  on  the  organization  of  the 
government,  he  was  called  upon  to  be  the  first  president 
of  the  states  which  he  had  preserved  and  established.  It 
was  a  period  of  great  difficulty  and  danger.  The  unsub 
dued  spirit  of  liberty  had  been  roused  and  kindled  by  the 
revolution  of  France;  and  many  Americans  were  eager 
that  the  freedom  and  equality,  which  they  themselves  en 
joyed,  should  be  extended  to  the  subjects  of  the  French 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  509 

monarch.  Washington  anticipated  the  plans  of  the  fac 
tious,  and,  by  prudence  and  firmness,  subdued  insurrec 
tion,  and  silenced  discontent,  till  the  parties,  which  the 
intrigues  of  Genet,  the  French  envoy,  had  roused  to  rebel 
lion,  were  convinced  of  the  wildness  of  their  measures, 
and  of  the  wisdom  of  their  governor.  The  president 
completed,  in  1796,  the  business  of  his  office  by  signing  a 
commercial  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  and  then  voluntarily 
resigned  his  power,  at  a  moment  when  all  hands  and  all 
hearts  were  united  again  to  confer  upon  him  the  sove 
reignty  of  the  country.  Restored  to  the  peaceful  retire 
ment  of  Mount  Vernon,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  pursuits 
of  agriculture;  arid,  though  he  accepted  the  command  of 
the  army  in  1798,  it  was  merely  to  unite  the  affections  of 
his  fellow-citizens  to  the  general  good,  and  was  one  more 
sacrifice  to  his  high  sense  of  duty. 

General  Washington  was  six  feet  in  height;  he  appeared 
taller,  as  his  shoulders  rose  a  little  higher  than  the  true 
proportion.  His  eyes  were  of  a  gray,  and  his  hair  of  a 
brown,  color  ;  his  limbs  were  well  formed,  and  indicated 
strength;  his  complexion  was  light,  and  his  countenance 
serene  and  thoughtful ;  his  manners  were  graceful,  manly, 
and  dignified  ;  his  general  appearance  never  failed  to  en 
gage  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  who  approached  him. 
Reserved,  but  not  haughty,  in  his  disposition,  he  was  ac 
cessible  to  all,  in  concerns  of  business;  but  he  opened 
himself  only  to  his  confidential  friends,  and  no  art  or  ad 
dress  could  draw  from  him  an  opinion  which  he  thought 
prudent  to  conceal. 

He  was  not  so  much  distinguished  for  brilliancy  of 
genius  as  for  solidity  of  judgment,  and  consummate  pru 
dence  of  conduct.  He  was  not  so  eminent  for  any  one 
quality  of  greatness  and  worth,  as  for  the  union  of  those 
great,  amiable,  and  good  qualities,  which  are  very  rarely 
combined  in  the  same  character.  In  domestic  and  private 
life,  he  blended  the  authority  of  the  master  with  the  care 
and  kindness  of  the  guardian  and  friend.  Solicitous  for 
the  welfare  of  his  slaves,  while  at  Mount  Vernon,  he  every 
morning  rode  round  his  estates  to  examine  their  condition  ; 
for  the  sick,  physicians  were  provided,  and  to  the  weak 
and  infirm  every  necessary  comfort  was  administered, 
43* 


510  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

The  servitude  of  the  negroes  lay  with  weight  upon  his 
mind  ;  he  often  made  it  the  subject  of  conversation,  and 
revolved  several  plans  for  their  general  emancipation. 
His  industry  was  uuremitted,  and  his  method  so  exact, 
that  all  the  complicated  business  of  his  military  command 
and  civil  administration  was  managed  without  confusion 
and  without  hurry.  Not  feeling  the  lust  of  power,  and 
ambitious  only  for  honorable  fame,  he  devoted  himself  to 
his  country  upon  the  most  disinterested  principles,  and  his 
.actions  wore  not  the  semblance,  but  the  reality,  of  virtue: 
the  purity  of  his  motives  was  accredited,  and  absolute  con 
fidence  placed  in  his  patriotism. 

While  filling  a  public  station,  the  performance  of  his 
duty  took  the  place  of  pleasure,  emolument,  and  every  pri 
vate  consideration.  During  the  more  critical  years  of  the 
war,  a  smile  was  scarcely  seen  upon  his  countenance  ;  he 
gave  himself  no  moments  of  relaxation,  but  his  whole 
mind  was  engrossed  to  execute  successfully  his  trust.  He 
was  as  eminent  for  piety  as  for  patriotism  ;  his  public  and 
private  conduct  evince,  that  he  impressively  felt  a  sense 
of  the  superintendence  of  God,  and  of  the  dependence  of 
man.  In  his  addresses,  while  at  the  head  of  the  army  and 
of  the  national  government,  he  gratefully  noticed  the  sig 
nal  blessings  of  Providence,  and  fervently  commended  his 
country  to  divine  benediction.  In  private,  he  was  known 
to  have  been  habitually  devout.  In  the  establishment  of 
his  presidential  household,  he  reserved  to  himself  the  Sab 
bath,  free  from  the  interruptions  of  private  visits  or  public 
business ;  and,  throughout  the  eight  years  of  his  civil  ad 
ministration,  he  gave  to  the  institutions  of  Christianity  the 
influence  of  his  example.  Uniting  the  talents  of  the  sol 
dier  with  the  qualifications  of  the  statesman,  and  pursuing, 
unmoved  by  difficulties,  the  noblest  end  by  the  purest 
means,  he  had  the  supreme  satisfaction  of  beholding  the 
complete  success  of  his  great  military  and  civil  services, 
in  the  independence  and  happiness  of  his  country.  He 
died,  after  a  short  illness,  on  the  14th  of  December,  1799. 
He  was  buried  with  the  honors  due  to  the  noble  founde^ 
of  a  happy  and  prosperous  republic.  History  furnishes  no 
parallel  to  the  character  of  Washington.  He  stands  on  an 
unapproached  eminence — distinguished  almost  beyond  hu- 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  511 

inanity  for   self-command,  intrepidity,  soundness  of  judg 
ment,  rectitude  of  purpose,  and  deep,  ever-active  piety. 


JOHN   ADAMS. 

JOHN  ADAMS,  a  distinguished  patriot  of  the  American 
revolution,  was  born  in  1735,  at  Braintree,  Massachusetts. 
He  was  educated  at  the  University  of  Cambridge,  and  re 
ceived  the  degree  of  master  of  arts,  in  1758.  At  this 
time  he  entered  the  office  of  Jeremiah  Gridley,  a  lawyer 
of  the  highest  eminence,  to  complete  his  legal  studies ; 
and  in  the  next  year  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Suffolk. 
Mr.  Adams  at  an  early  age  espoused  the  cause  of  his  coun 
try,  and  received  numerous  marks  of  the  public  confidence 
and  respect.  He  took  a  prominent  part  in  every  leading 
measure,  and  served  on  several  committees  which  reported 
some  of  the  most  important  state  papers  of  the  time.  He 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Congress,  and  was  among  the 
foremost  in  recommending  the  adoption  of  an  independent 
government.  It  has  been  affirmed  by  Mr.  Jefferson  him 
self,  "  that  the  great  pillar  of  support  to  the  declaration 
of  independence,  and  its  ablest  advocate  and  champion  on 
the  floor  of  the  house,  was  John  Adams."  In  1777,  he 
was  chosen  commissioner  to  the  court  of  Versailles,  in  the 
place  of  Mr.  Deane,  who  was  recalled.  On  his  return, 
about  a  year  afterwards,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Convention  to  prepare  a  form  of  government  for  the  state 
of  Massachusetts,  and  placed  on  the  sub-committee  chosen 
to  draught  the  project  of  a  constitution.  Three  months 
after  his  return,  Congress  sent  him  abroad  with  two  com 
missions,  one  as  minister  plenipotentiary  to  negotiate  a 
peace,  the  other  to  form  a  commercial  treaty  with  Great 
Britain.  In  June,  1789,  he  was  appointed,  in  the  place  of 
Mr.  Laurens,  ambassador  to  Holland,  and  in  1782,  he  re 
paired  to  Paris,  to  commence  the  negotiation  for  peace, 
having  previously  obtained  assurance  that  Great  Britain 
would  recognize  the  independence  of  the  United  States. 
At  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Adams  was  appointed  the 
first  minister  to  London. 

In  1789,  he  was  elected  vice-president  of  the  United 
States,  and,  on  the  resignation  of  Washington,  succeeded 


512  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

to  the  presidency,  in  1797.  After  his  term  of  four  years 
had  expired,  it  was  found,  on  the  new  election,  that  his 
adversary,  Mr.  Jefferson,  had  succeeded  by  the  majority 
of  one  vote.  On  retiring  to  his  farm  in  Quincy,  Mr. 
Adams  occupied  himself  with  agriculture,  obtaining 
amusement  from  the  literature  and  politics 'of  the  day. 
The  remaining  years  of  his  life  were  passed  in  almost  un 
interrupted  tranquillity. 

The  account  that  Mr.  Adams  gives,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend, 
of  his  introduction  to  George  III.,  at  the  court  of  St. 
James,  as  the  first  minister  from  the  rebel  colonies,  is  very 
interesting.  The  scene  would  form  a  noble  picture, 
highly  honorable  both  to  his  majesty  and  the  republican 
minister.  Here  stood  the  stern  monarch,  who  had  ex 
pended  more  than  six  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  and  the 
lives  of  two  hundred  thousand  of  his  subjects,  in  a  vain 
attempt  to  subjugate  freemen ;  and  by  his  side  stood  the 
mnn  who,  in  the  language  of  Jefferson,  "  was  the  great 
pillar  of  support  to  the  declaration  of  independence,  and 
its  ablest  advocate  and  champion  on  the  floor  of  Congress." 
Mr.  Adams  says,  "  At  one  o'clock,  on  Wednesday,  the  first 
of  June,  1785,  the  master  of  ceremonies  called  at  my 
house,  and  went  with  me  to  the  secretary  of  state's  office, 
in  Cleaveland  Row,  where  the  marquis  of  Caermarthen  re 
ceived  and  introduced  me  to  Mr.  Frazier,  his  under  sec 
retary,  who  had  been,  as  his  lordship  said,  uninterruptedly 
in  that  office  through  all  the  changes  in  administration  for 
thirty  years.  After  a  short  conversation,  Lord  Caermar 
then  invited  me  to  go  with  him  in  his  coach  to  court. 
When  we  arrived  in  the  ante-chamber,  the  master  of 
the  ceremonies  introduced  him,  and  attended  me,  while 
the  secretary  of  state  went  to  take  the  commands  of  the 
king.  While  I  stood  in  this  place,  where,  it  seems,  all 
ministers  stand  upon  such  occasions,  always  attended  by 
the  master  of  ceremonies,  the  room  was  very  full  of 
ministers  of  state,  bishops,  and  all  other  sorts  of  courtiers, 
as  well  as  the  next  room,  which  is  the  king's  bed-chamber. 
You  may  well  suppose  I  was  the  focus  of  all  eyes.  I  was 
relieved,  however,  from  the  embarrassment  of  it,  by  the 
Swedish  and  Dutch  ministers,  who  came  to  me,  and  enter 
tained  me  with  a  very  agreeable  conversation  during  the 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  513 

whole  time.  Some  other  gentlemen,  whom  I  had  seen  be 
fore,  came  to  make  their  compliments  to  me,  until  the  mar 
quis  of  Caermarthen  returned,  and  desired  me  to  go  with 
him  to  his  majesty.  I  went  with  his  lordship  through  the 
levee  room  into  the  king's  closet.  The  door  was  shut,  and 
I  was  left  with  his  majesty  and  the  secretary  of  state  alone. 
I  made  the  three  reverences  —  one  at  the  door,  another 
about  half  way,  and  another  before  the  presence,  accord 
ing  to  the  usage  established  at  this  and  all  the  northern 
courts  of  Europe  ;  and  then  I  addressed  myself  to  his  ma 
jesty,  in  the  following  words  :  — '  Sire  :  The  United  States 
have  appointed  me  minister  plenipotentiary  to  your  ma 
jesty,  and  have  directed  me  to  deliver  to  your  majesty  this 
letter,  which  contains  the  evidence  of  it.  It  is  in  obe 
dience  to  their  express  commands,  that  I  have  the  honor 
to  assure  your  majesty  of  their  unanimous  disposition  and 
desire  to  cultivate  the  most  friendly  and  liberal  intercourse 
between  your  majesty's  subjects  and  their  citizens,  and  of 
their  best  wishes  for  your  majesty's  health  and  happiness, 
and  for  that  of  your  family.  The  appointment  of  a  minis 
ter  from  the  United  States  to  your  majesty's  court,  will 
form  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  England  and  America.  I 
think  myself  more  fortunate  than  all  my  fellow-citizens,  in 
having  the  distinguished  honor  to  be  the  first  to  stand  in 
your  majesty's  royal  presence  in  a  diplomatic  character; 
and  I  shall  esteem  myself  the  happiest  of  men,  if  I  can  be 
instrumental  in  recommending  my  country  more  and  more 
to  your  majesty's  royal  benevolence,  and  of  restoring  an 
entire  esteem,  confidence,  and  affection ;  or,  in  better 
words,  the  old  good  nature  and  the  good  old  humor,  be 
tween  people  who,  though  separated  by  an  ocean,  and 
under  different  governments,  have  the  same  language,  a 
similar  religion,  a  kindred  blood.  I  beg  your  majesty's 
permission  to  add,  that,  although  I  have  sometimes  before 
been  instructed  by  my  country,  it  was  never,  in  my  whole 
life,  in  a  manner  so  agreeable  to  myself 

"  The  king  listened  to  every  word  I  said,  with  dignity,  it 
is  true,  but  with  apparent  emotion.  Whether  it  was  my 
visible  agitation  —  for  I  felt  more  than  I  could  express  —  that 
touched  him,  I  cannot  say  ;  but  he  was  much  affected,  and 
answered  me  with  more  tremor  than  I  had  spoken  with, 


514  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

and  said  :  — '  Sir  :  The  circumstances  of  this  audience  are 
so  extraordinary,  the  language  you  have  now  held  is  so 
extremely  proper,  and  the  feelings  you  have  discovered  so 
justly  adapted  to  the  occasion,  that  I  not  only  receive  with 
pleasure  the  assurance  of  the  friendly  disposition  of  the 
United  States,  but  I  am  glad  the  choice  has  fallen  upon 
you  to  be  their  minister.  I  wish  you,  sir,  to  believe,  and 
that  it  may  be  understood  in  America,  that  I  have  done 
nothing  in  the  late  contest  but  what  I  thought  myself  in 
dispensably  bound  to  do,  by  the  duty  which  I  owed  my 
people.  I  will  be  frank  with  you.  I  was  the  last  to 
conform  to  the  separation ;  but  the  separation  having  be 
come  inevitable,  I  have  always  said,  as  I  now  sny,  that  I 
would  be  the  first  to  meet  the  friendship  cf  the  United 
States  as  an  independent  power.  The  moment  I  see  such 
sentiments  and  language  as  yours  prevail,  and  a  disposition 
to  give  this  country  the  preference,  that  moment  I  shall  say, 
"Let  the  circumstances  of  language,  religion,  and  blood, 
have  their  natural,  full  effect."  '  1  dare  not  say  that  these 
were  the  king's  precise  words  ;  and  it  is  even  possible  that 
I  may  have,  in  some  particulars,  mistaken  his  meaning; 
for,  although  his  pronunciation  is  as  distinct  as  I  ever 
heard,  he  hesitated  sometimes  between  members  of  the 
same  period.  He  was,  indeed,  much  affected,  and  I  was 
not  less  so ;  and  therefore  I  cannot  be  certain  that  I  was  so 
attentive,  heard  so  clearly,  and  understood  so  perfectly,  as 
to  be  confident  of  all  his  words,  or  sense.  This  I  do  say, 
that  the  foregoing  is  his  majesty's  meaning,  as  I  then  un 
derstood  it,  and  his  own  words,  as  nearly  as  I  cun  recol 
lect  them.  The  king  then  asked  me  whether  I  came  last 
from  France  ;  and,  upon  my  answering  in  the  affirmative, 
he  put  on  an  air  of  familiarity,  and  smiling,  or  rather  laugh 
ing,  said,  '  There  is  an  opinion  among  some  people  that 
you  are  not  the  most  attached  of  all  your  countrymen 
to  the  manners  of  France.'  I  was  surprised  at  this,  because 
I  thought  it  an  indiscretion,  and  a  descent  from  his  dignity. 
I  was  a  little  embarrassed  ;  but,  determined  not  to  deny 
truth,  on  the  one  hand,  nor  lead  him  to  infer  from  it  any 
attachment  to  England,  on  the  other,  I  threw  off  as  much 
gravity  as  I  could,  and  assumed  an  air  of  gayety,  and  a  tone 
of  decision,  as  far  as  was  decent,  and  said,  '  That  opinion, 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  515 

sir,  is  not  mistaken  ;  I  must  avow  to  your  majesty,  I  have 
no  attachment  but  to  my  own  country.'  The  king  replied, 
as  quick  as  lightning,  '  An  honest  man  will  never  have  any 
other.'  The  king  then  said  a  word  or  two  to  the  secre 
tary  of  state,  which,  being  between  them,  I  did  not  hear, 
and  then  turned  round  and  bowed  to  me,  as  is  customary 
with  all  kings  and  princes  when  they  give  the  signal  to 
retire.  I  retreated,  stepping  backwards,  as  is  the  etiquette; 
and  making  my  last  reverence,  at  the  door  of  the  chamber, 
I  went  to  my  carriage."  —  He  died  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1826,  with  the  same  words  on  his  lips,  which,  fifty  years 
before,  on  that  glorious  day,  he  had  uttered  on  the  floor  of 
Congress  —  "  Independence  forever." —  Mr.  Adams  is  the 
author  of  an  Essay  on  Canon  and  Feudal  Law ;  a  series 
of  Letters,  published  under  the  signature  of  Novariglus ; 
and  Discourses  on  Davila. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  the  third  president  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  at  Shadwell  Farm,  near  Monticello,  April 
2,  1743.  It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  the  date  of  his  birth 
could  never  be  accurately  determined,  till  it  was  discov 
ered  after  his  de-ith.  He  invariably  resisted  all  attempts 
made  by  his  enthusiastic  friends  to  obtain  knowledge  of 
it,  who  wished  th  it  the  anniversary  of  his  birth  might  be 
come  a  day  of  jubilee  to  our  nation. 

His  youth  was  not  squandered  in  pleasure  which  brings 
no  return,  but  was  faithfully  and  diligently  devoted  to  the 
improvement  of  his  mind.  When  he  was  yet  quite  young, 
he  was  one  day  present  while  Patrick  Henry  was  pouring 
forth  a  flood  of  eloquence,  carrying  away  the  sentiments 
of  all  before  it;  Jefferson  felt  within  hi  nself  the  mighty 
struggles  of  a  great  spirit,  which  only  demanded  for  its 
exhibition  a  theatre  adequate  to  its  powers.  He  re 
flected  seriously  whether  he  should  spend  his  time  in  the 
fashionable  amusements  of  the  young  men  of  his  age,  or 
mike  the  glory  of  Patrick  Henry  the  pole-star  of  his 
thoughts  and  aspirations. 

He  decided  on  the  latter  course,  and  commenced  the 
study  of  law,  to  which  he  assiduously  devoted  himself,  and, 


516  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

after  admission  to  the  bar,  engaged  for  a  time  in  the 
practice  of  it.  But  he  was  early  called  to  take  a  seat  in 
the  council  of  his  native  state,  where  he  advanced  at  once 
to  the  very  front  rank.  He  took  his  stand  on  the  part  of 
the  people,  and,  through  the  whole  course  of  his  subse 
quent  career,  was  faithful  to  the  generous  spirit  of  his 
youth. 

Though  himself  a  slaveholder,  one  of  his  first  efforts  at 
legislation  was  the  introduction  of  a  bill  entitled  "  per 
mission  for  the  emancipation  of  slaves,"  which  was  de 
feated  by  a  large  majority;  yet  it  served  to  exhibit  the  un 
compromising  hostility  of  Jefferson  to  oppression  in  all  its 
forms.  It  was  while  he  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia 
legislature,  that  the  resolutions  of  the  British  parliament, 
directed  against  Massachusetts,  were  received,  and,  at  the 
instance  of  Jefferson,  were  met  by  counter  resolutions. 
For  this  offence,  the  legislature  was  dissolved  by  the  royal 
governor.  Jefferson,  Wythe,  the  two  Lees,  and  Carr,  ad 
journed  to  a  tavern,  where  they  conceived  and  perfected 
the  non-importation  act,  which,  more  than  any  other  meas 
ure,  crippled  the  commerce  of  England,  and  revealed  to 
her,  and  to  the  colonies  themselves,  the  importance  of  the 
colonial  trade.  At  a  subsequent  meeting,  they  discussed 
and  settled  a  plan  of  operations  for  the  committees  of  cor 
respondence  in  the  different  colonies,  through  whom  every 
important  act,  that  transpired  in  one,  was  immediately 
communicated  to  the  sister  colonies.  Thus  the  slow 
and  cautious  step  of  tyranny  in  any  colony  was  de 
tected,  and  the  whole  policy  of  England  unfolded  to  the 
view  of  all. 

But  the  public  mind  was  still  too  sluggish  for  the  im 
petuous  feelings  of  Jefferson,  and  he  had  recourse  to  the 
press,  and  to  private  correspondence,  to  breathe  into  the 
people  the  breath  of  life.  He  even  proposed,  and  caused 
to  be  proclaimed,  a  religious  fast  on  the  day  appointed  for 
the  Boston  Port  Bill  to  go  into  operation.  For  this  ap 
pointment,  the  legislature  was  dissolved  by  Lord  Dunmore, 
the  royal  governor.  At  this  time,  as  after  the  former  dis 
solution  of  the  assembly,  Jefferson  and  his  patriotic  as 
sociates  retired  to  a  tavern,  where  they  digested  other 
schemes  to  excite  the  indignation  of  the  colonies  against 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  517 

England.  To  effect  this  design,  they  resorted  to  every 
means  that  offered  —  the  pulpit,  the  pen,  the  press,  and 
political  harangues.  At  length,  Jefferson  had  the  satisfac 
tion  of  taking  part  in  the  democratic  Convention  at  Wil- 
liamsburg,  in  Virginia,  the  first  ever  assembled  in  Amer 
ica,  where  he  wrote  and  presented  instructions  for  the 
congressional  delegates,  entitled  "  A  Summary  View  of 
the  Rights  of  British  America,"  which  was  republished  by 
the  whigs  in  the  British  Parliament.  The  bold  stand  taken 
in  this  pamphlet,  brought  down  on  Jefferson  the  vengeance 
of  the  British  ministers,  and  a  bill  of  attainder  for  high 
treason  was  commenced  against  him  in  the  British  Par 
liament,  which,  however,  was  never  brought  to  maturity  ; 
and  had  it  been  so,  it  could  never  have  been  served  upon 
him,  without  a  posse  comitatus  of  one  hundred  thousand 
soldiers. 

In  the  year  1774,  the  royal  government  in  the  colonies 
may  be  said  to  have  ceased,  and  the  American  assemblies 
to  have  succeeded  to  the  inheritance  of  power,  of  which 
they  had  hitherto  been  unjustly  deprived.  Since  she  could 
no  longer  hope  for  success  in  overt  acts  of  tyranny,  Eng 
land  had  recourse  to  the  arts  of  finesse  and  diplomatic 
skill.  The  conciliatory  proposition  of  Lord  North  was 
now  sent  to  each  colony,  allowing  the  Americans  the  privi 
lege  of  taxing  themselves,  provided  that  the  amount  of  their 
contributions  was  satisfictory  to  England.  So  shallow  a 
device  could  not  have  been  supposed,  by  candid  and  sensi 
ble  men,  to  have  the  most  distant  prospect  of  success  with 
the  majority  of  the  people,  but  was  probably  intended 
merely  to  create  a  division,  and  overthrow  the  confedera 
tion.  On  this  ground  Jefferson  took  his  stand  ;  and  in  the 
answer  which  he  was  appointed  to  prepare,  he  clearly  and 
decidedly  announced  the  determination  of  Virginia  to  ac 
cept  no  proposition  which  was  not  made  to  the  General 
Congress. 

But  now  the  hour  of  trial  had  come.  September  5, 
1774,  Congress  had  assembled  in  Philadelphia.  A  resolu 
tion,  moved  by  Patrick  Henry,  declaring  the  expediency  of 
pitting  the  colonies  in  a  state  of  defence,  was  before  them. 
The  wary  arid  the  prudent  shrank  from  the  dre  idful  leap; 
the  bold  and  f.ir-sinrhted  rushed  at  once  into  the  Rubicon. 
41  ° 


518  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

Long  and  vehement  was  the  contest ;  but  nothing  could 
resist  the  power  of  Henry,  Jefferson,  the  Lees,  the  Pages, 
and  Mason.  The  Rubicon  was  passed  —  the  resolution  was 
adopted.  And  now  the  principle  that  sustained  America 
in  the  shock  with  Britain's  power,  was  pointedly  displayed; 
the  minority,  to  a  man,  united  with  the  majority,  and  boldly 
put  their  names  to  the  resolution. 

Jefferson  was  appointed  to  draw  the  Declaration  of  In 
dependence.  The  draught  was  reported  June  28th,  or 
dered  to  lie  on  the  table  till  July  2,  when  it  was  subjected  to 
a  most  tremendous  ordeal  in  the  debate  that  followed  ;  but 
after  many  alterations  it  passed.  Thirty-seven  years  after 
wards,  Mr.  Jefferson  declared  that  Mr.  Adams  was  the  pil 
lar  of  its  support  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  its  ablest  advo 
cate  and  defender  against  the  multifarious  assaults  it 
encountered. 

In  a  memorandum  made  by  Jefferson  relative  to  the 
alterations  and  omissions,  he  says,  "  The  clause  reproba 
ting  the  enslaving  the  inhabitants  of  Africa,  was  struck  out 
in  complaisance  to  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  who  had 
never  attempted  to  restrain  the  importation  of  slaves,  and 
who,  on  the  contrary,  still  wished  to  continue  it.  Our 
northern  brethren,  also,  I  believe,  felt  a  little  tender  under 
those  censures  ;  for,  though  the  people  had  very  few  slaves 
themselves,  yet  they  had  been  pretty  considerable  carriers 
of  them  to  others." 

The  congressional  term  for  which  Jefferson  was  elected, 
expired  in  August,  1776,  and  he  was  reelected,  but  soon 
resigned  his  seat  to  take  a  place  in  the  legislature  of 
Virginia,  where  he  believed  that  he  could  be  more  use 
ful.  He  was  here  the  author  of  a  bill  abolishing  entail- 
merits,  and  of  one  securing  religious  liberty  ;  a  bill  for 
emancipating  slaves  born  after  its  enactment,  which  was 
defeated  in  his  absence  ,  a  bill  to  abolish  capital  punishment, 
except  in  extreme  cases ;  and  a  bill  establishing  literary  in 
stitutions. 

In  1779,  Jefferson  was  chosen  governor  of  Virginia, 
where  he  was  distinguished  for  his  firmness  in  opposition  to 
the  cruelty  practised  by  the  British  on  the  Americans  who 
fell  into  their  power.  To  repress  these  cruelties,  he  had 
recourse  to  retaliation  upon  a  man  named  Hamilton,  and 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  519 

on  his  associates,  who  had  exercised  great  enormities,  and 
were  therefore  deemed  proper  objects  of  retaliation.  This 
measure  was  believed  to  have  been  advantageous  to  Amer 
ican  prisoners  in  the  power  of  the  British,  and  accordingly 
severities  were  soon  relaxed.  In  1781,  Mr.  Jefferson,  from 
a  belief  that  the  interests  of  the  states  required  a  governor 
whose  military  experience  would  enable  him  to  lead  the 
forces  of  the  state,  resigned  in  favor  of  Governor  Nelson. 
Shortly  after  his  resignation,  Cornwallis,  having  learned 
that  the  Assembly  was  in  session  at  Charlottesville,  detached 
Colonel  Tarleton  at  the  head  of  his  corps,  to  seize  Mr. 
Jefferson.  When  about  ten  miles  from  Charlottesville, 
Tarleton  sent  a  small  troop  to  Monticello,  and  with  the 
rest  of  his  corps  rode  to  Charlottesville.  The  alarm  was 
given  about  sunrise ;  the  speakers  of  the  two  houses  hast 
ened  from  Monticello,  where  they  had  slept  the  previous 
night,  hastily  rode  to  Charlottesville,  adjourned  the  Assem 
bly,  and  made  their  escape.  Jefferson  placed  his  wife  and 
children  in  a  carriage,  arid  sent  them  to  the  house  of  Colo 
nel  Carter,  on  a  neighboring  mountain,  and  remained  at  his 
own  house,  waiting  until  his  horse  should  be  shod,  when  word 
was  brought  that  the  British  troops  were  already  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill  on  which  his  mansion  stood.  Upon  hearing  this, 
he  mounted  his  horse,  and  fled  into  the  woods,  with  whose 
avenues  he  was  perfectly  acquainted,  and  soon  afterwards 
joined  his  family.  Tarleton,  chagrined  at  his  disappoint 
ment,  burned  all  the  barns  of  Jefferson,  containing  his 
last  year's  crop,  carried  off  all  the  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  &>c., 
and  some  of  his  horses,  cut  the  throats  of  the  rest,  and 
burned  all  the  fences  on  his  plantation,  reducing  it  to  a 
barren  waste. 

In  1783,  Mr.  Jefferson  was  elected  to  Congress,  where, 
as  in  former  times,  he  was  to  be  found  on  those  commit 
tees  that  particularly  required  ability,  integrity,  and  patriot 
ism.  He  proposed  and  carried  the  measure  effecting  a 
change  in  the  denomination  of  the  currency,  and  intro 
ducing  the  decimal  system.  He  opposed  the  formation  of 
the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  the  multiplication  of 
ambassadors  to  foreign  powers,  in  order  to  contract  with 
them  entingling  alliances. 

In   1789,  he  was  appointed  minister  plenipotentiary  to 


520  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

France,  to  succeed  Dr.  Franklin.  About  this  time,  the 
claims  of  the  Barbary  pirates,  to  which  the  greater  part  of 
the  European  powers  had  acceded,  were  firmly  resisted  by 
Mr.  Jefferson,  in  the  spirit  of  the  maxim  uttered  by  hirn 
on  that  occasion  —  "Millions  for  defence,  but  not  one 
cent  for  tribute."  He  opposed  the  formation  of  a  treaty 
of  commerce  with  Spain,  requiring  us  to  surrender  to  that 
power,  for  twenty  or  thirty  years,  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi.  While  he  was  in  France,  besides  attending 
to  the  ordinary  duties  of  his  embassy,  his  active  mind  was 
continually  employed  in  devising  plans  for  the  improve 
ment  of  the  condition  of  the  human  species.  From  Nice, 
he  thus  writes  to  Lafayette  :  —  "I  am  constantly  roving 
about  to  see  what  I  have  never  seen  before,  and  shall  never 
see  again.  In  the  great  cities,  I  go  to  see  what  travellers 
think  alone  worthy  of  being  seen  ;  but  I  make  a  job  of  it, 
and  generally  gulp  it  all  down  in  a  day.  On  the  other 
hand,  I  am  never  satiated  with  rambling  through  the  fields 
and  farms,  examining  the  culture  and  cultivators  with  a  de 
gree  of  curiosity  which  makes  some  take  me  to  be  a  fool, 
and  others  to  be  much  wiser  than  I  am.  From  the  first 
olive  fields  of  Pierrelatte,  to  the  orangeries  of  Hieres,  it  has 
been  continued  rapture  to  me.  I  have  often  wished  for 
you.  I  think  you  have  not  made  this  journey.  It  is  a 
pleasure  you  have  to  come,  and  an  improvement  to  be 
added  to  the  many  you  have  already  made.  It  will  be  a 
great  comfort  to  you  to  know,  from  your  own  inspection, 
the  condition  of  all  the  provinces  of  your  own  country, 
and  it  will  be  interesting  to  them,  at  some  future  day,  to  be 
known  to  you.  This  is,  perhaps,  the  only  moment  of  your 
life,  in  which  you  can  acquire  that  knowledge.  And  to  do 
it  most  effectually,  you  must  be  absolutely  incognito; 
you  must  ferret  the  people  out  of  their  hovels,  as  I  have 
done,  look  into  their  kettles,  eat  their  bread,  loll  on  their 
beds  under  pretence  of  resting  yourself,  but  in  fact  to  find 
if  they  are  soft.  You  will  feel  a  sublime  pleasure,  in  the 
course  of  this  investigation,  and  a  sublime  one  hereafter, 
when  you  shall  be  able  to  apply  your  knowledge  to  the  soft 
ening  of  their  beds,  or  the  throwing  a  morsel  of  meat  into 
their  kettle  of  vegetables." 

Mr.  Jefferson  introduced  into  the  south  the  cultivation 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  521 

of  upland  rice,  which  enables  the  planter  to  dispense  with 
the  Mowings  of  land,  so  destructive  to  human  life.  He 
negotiated  for  the  introduction  of  our  whale  oil  and  tobacco 
into  French  ports;  recommended  the  culture  of  the  fig, 
olive,  and  mulberry,  in  the  United  States;  communica 
ted  the  art  of  stereotyping,  then  recently  invented,  and 
strove  to  introduce  a  taste  for  sculpture,  music,  and  archi 
tecture. 

In  the  progress  and  success  of  the  French  revolution  he 
took  a  deep  interest,  and  was  often  consulted  by  Lafayette 
and  the  other  lenders  in  their  most  difficult  emergencies. 
He  one  day  received  a  note  from  Lafayette,  informing  him 
that  the  latter,  with  six  or  seven  other  persons,  would  dine 
with  him  on  a  certain  day.  Accordingly,  on  the  day  ap 
pointed,  Lafayette  arrived  with  six  or  seven  of  the  principal 
leaders  of  the  different  parties,  that  were  then  contending 
for  the  supremacy.  After  the  cloth  was  removed,  they 
calmly  entered  upon  the  discussion  of  the  most  important 
principles  of  government,  established  certain  points,  on 
which  they  might  all  agree,  and  thus,  in  some  degree, 
softened  the  asperity  of  party  feeling  which  had  before 
prevailed.  The  next  day,  Mr.  Jefferson  sent  to  the 
minister,  Montmorin,  a  full  explanation  of  the  occur 
rence,  with  which,  however,  the  latter  was  fully  ac 
quainted. 

In  1789,  soon  after  his  return  from  Paris,  he  received 
from  Washington  the  appointment  of  secretary  of  state. 
In  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  his  office,  he  con 
ducted  the  controversy  with  Spain  to  a  successful  termina 
tion ;  in  a  correspondence  relating  to  our  difference  with 
England  on  the  subject  of  impressment,  he  drove  Mr. 
Hammond,  the  English  minister,  from  the  field  by  the  force 
of  his  argument ;  repressed  the  violation  of  our  neutrality, 
committed  by  Genet,  the  French  minister,  and  obtained 
his  recall  by  the  French  government.  In  1793,  he  re 
signed  his  office,  and  retired  to  Monticello,  with  the  in 
tention  of  entering  no  more  into  public  life.  But  in 
1797,  he  was  chosen  vice-president,  in  which  capacity 
he  served  until  1891,  when  he  became  president  of  the 
United  States. 

On  his  induction  into  office,  he  sedulously  avoided  all 
44* 


522  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

external  pomp,  banished  the  machinery  designed  to  elicit 
popular  applause,  walked  from  his  boarding-house  to .  the 
Capitol,  with  six  or  seven  members  of  Congress,  without 
marshals,  without  the  white  wands  emblematic  of  power, 
simply  took  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  constitution,  and 
entered  on  the  performance  of  duty.  Instead  of  a  speech, 
he  sent  a  message  to  the  house,  requesting  that  no  answer 
should  be  returned. 

He  favored  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  at  the  cost  of 
15,000,000  of  dollars,  by  which  100,000,000  of  acres  were 
added  to  our  territory. 

He  recommended  the  building  of  gun-boats  to  take  the 
place  of  the  larger  ships  of  war,  believing  that  they  would 
be  less  expensive,  and  more  manageable ;  he  favored  the 
building  of  dry  docks  for  the  reception  of  our  vessels  of 
war  during  peace.  He  never  ceased  to  regret  that  the 
tenure  of  office  of  the  federal  judges,  during  good  be 
havior,  almost  entirely  removes  them  from  the  wholesome 
restraints  that  would  be  imposed  by  the  popular  will.  The 
veto  power,  which  renders  the  president  almost  a  despot 
for  the  term  of  his  election,  Mr.  Jefferson  desired  to  see 
restricted.  But  so  jealous  was  he  of  the  rights  of  the  peo 
ple,  and  so  desirous  that  the  liberty  of  speech  and  of  the 
press  should  be  unrestrained,  that  he  never  noticed  the 
political  slanders  that  were  aimed  at  himself,  save  by  a 
calm  and  temperate  denial  of  their  truth,  in  his  private 
communications  with  his  friends.  The  Baron  Humboldt, 
one  day,  took  from  a  table  in  Jefferson's  library  a  news 
paper  teeming  with  the  most  violent  attacks  on  Mr.  Jef 
ferson's  private  character,  and  with  great  indignation  in- 
. quired  why  the  power  of  the  law  was  not  brought  upon  the 
authors  of  such  abominable  lies.  Jefferson,  with  a  smile, 
replied,  "What!  hang  the  guardians  of  the  public  morals? 
No,  rather  would  I  protect  the  spirit  of  freedom,  which 
dictates  even  that  degree  of  abuse.  Put  that  paper  in  your 
pocket,  my  good  friend,  carry  it  with  you  to  Europe,  and 
when  you  hear  any  one  doubt  the  reality  of  American 
freedom,  show  them  that  paper,  and  tell  them  where  you 
found  it,  Let  the  actions  of  virtuous  characters  refute 
such  libels.  When  a  man  assumes  a  public  trust,  he 
should  consider  himself  as  public  property."  In  conform- 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  523 

ity  with  these  sentiments  were  his  actions ;  for  he  released 
all  those  who  had  been  imprisoned  for  opinion's  sake, 
under  the  sedition  law.  He  not  only  acknowledged  him 
self  the  servant  of  the  people,  but  he  acted  as  such.  No 
man  applied  to  him  in  vain  for  aid  or  advice.  In  one  of 
his  eq  lestrian  excursions,  he  came  to  a  ford  in  a  river,  by 
the  side  of  which  sat  a  beggar  unable  to  cross.  He  boldly 
asked  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  whom  he  did  not 
know,  who  allowed  him  to  mount  behind,  and  conveyed 
him  across  the  stream,  and  afterwards  returned  for  his 
wallet,  and  restored  it  to  him. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  often  seen  returning  from  his  excur 
sions  with  some  flower  or  shrub,  with  which  he  ornamented 
the  garden  of  the  Capitol;  and  the  beautiful  rows  of  trees 
extending  from  the  Capitol  to  the  president's  house  were 
planted  by  his  hands,  or  under  his  directions.  He  steadily 
refused  to  appoint  any  of  his  relations  to  office,  since  he 
always  found  some  one  else  better  qualified. 

He  retired  from  the  presidency  in  1839,  and  joyfully 
resumed  his  philosophical  and  agricultural  employments  at 
Monticeilo,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six,  the  same  age  at  which 
the  first  five  presidents  left,  the  presidential  chair.  His  re 
ligious  opinions  were  the  subject  of  vehement  controversy, 
one  party  reproaching  him  with  atheism,  and  the  other 
stoutly  denying  the  truth  of  the  allegation.  His  state 
papers,  contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  did  not 
usually  contain  any  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Being.  His 
mind  was  not  of  a  religious  cast,  though  he  considered 
"  the  Christian  religion  the  most  perfect  system  that  the 
world  ever  saw."  He  devoted  the  last  years  of  his  life 
to  the  welfare  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  established 
under  his  auspices,  and  sustained  by  his  more  than  pa 
ternal  care. 

By  the  pecuniary  sacrifices,  and  other  losses  which  he 
had  sustained,  his  affairs  became  embarrassed.  Several 
state  legislatures  passed  acts  appropriating  money  for  his 
relief.  But  before  the  consummation  of  their  project, 
the  object  of  their  gratitude  was  no  more. 

In  consequence  of  a  too  free  indulgence  in  the  hot 
spring  bath,  his  health  had  been  failing  for  seven  or 
eight  years,  and  in  the  spring  of  1826,  it  became  evi- 


524  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

dent  to  himself  and  his  friends,  that  his  frame  was  fast 
sinking  with  debility. 

A  few  d;iys  before  his  death,  a  friend  called  to  see  him 
on  business,  and  describes  his  interview  in  the  following 
terms  :  —  "  There  he  was  extended,  feeble,  prostrate;  but 
the  fine  and  clear  expression  of  his  countenance  not  at  all 
obscured.  At  the  first  glance  he  recognized  me,  arid  his 
hand  arid  voice  saluted  me.  He  regretted  that  T  should 
find  him  so  helpless,  talked  of  the  freshet  then  prevailing 
in  James  River,  and  said  he  had  never  known  a  more 
destructive  one.  He  soon,  however,  passed  to  the  uni 
versity,  expatiated  on  its  future  ability,  commended  the 
professors,  and  expressed  satisfaction  at  the  progress  of 
the  students.  A  sword  was  suspended  at  the  foot  of  his 
bed,  which  he  told  me  was  presented  to  him  by  an  Arabian 
chief,  and  that  the  blade  was  a  true  Damascus.  At  this 
time,  he  became  so  cheerful  as  to  smile,  even  to  laughing, 
at  a  remark  I  made.  He  alluded  to  the  probability  of  his 
death  as  a  man  would  to  the  prospect  of  being  caught  in  a 
shower,  as  an  event  not  to  be  desired,  but  not  to  be  feared. 

"  Upon  proposing  to  withdraw,  I  observed  that  I  would 
call  to  see  him  again.  He  said,  '  Well,  do;  but  you  must 
dine  here  to-day.'  To  this  I  replied,  '  I  proposed  delay 
ing  that  pleasure  till  he  got  better.'  He  waved  his  hand, 
and  shook  his  head  with  some  impatience,  saying  emphat 
ically,  '  You  must  dine  here  to-day;  my  sickness  makes  no 
difference.'  I  consented,  left  him,  and  never  saw  him 
more." 

On  the  3d  of  July,  he  expressed  his  desire  to  live  for 
one  day  more,  that  he  might  breathe  the  air  of  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  American  independence,  when  he  would 
joyfully  sing  with  old  Simeon,  "  Nunc  dimittas,  Domine," 
"  Now  let  me  depart,  O  Lord." 

In  the  intervals  of  delirium,  his  mind  reverted  again  to 
the  scenes  in  which  he  had  been  a  chief  actor.  Once  he 
exclaimed,  "  Warn  the  committees  to  be  on  their  guard," 
and  instantly  rose  up  in  his  bed,  and  went  through  the  act 
of  writing  a  hurried  note.  His  last  words  were,  "I  have 
done  for  my  country,  and  for  all  mankind,  all  that  I  could 
do,  and  I  now  resign  my  soul  without  fear  to  my  God,  my 
daughter  to  my  country."  He  quietly  passed  away  about 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  525 

ten  minutes  before  one  o'clock,  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1826,  at  the  very  hour  in  which,  fifty  years  before,  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  signed. 

On  the  same  day,  about  five  hours  later,  died  John 
Ad  ims,  the  great  coadjutor  of  Jefferson,  in  passing  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  As  Ms  great  spirit  took 
its  flight,  it  left  its  footprint  on  earth  in  these  his  last 
words, —  "  Independence  forever  ;  Jefferson  survives." 


ty     JAMES  MADISON. 

JAMES  MADISON,  the  fourth  president  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  Virginia,  in  1750.  Of  his  early  life 
but  little  is  known.  In  1794,  he  was  married  to  Mrs. 
Todd,  widow  of  John  Todd,  Esq.,  a  practitioner  of  the 
Pennsylvania  bar.  To  the  praise  of  his  accomplished 
lady,  it  is  known  that,  in  her  highest  fortune,  she  did 
not  neglect  her  early  friends,  but  extended  to  all  who 
approached  her,  those  attentions  which  please  the  ex 
alted,  and  inspire  the  humble  with  becoming  confidence. 

The  first  knowledge  we  have  of  Mr.  Madison,  is  as  an 
active  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  at  an  early 
age.  To  him,  more  than  any  one  else,  perhaps,  the  people 
of  the  United  States  are  indebted  for  the  constitution 
under  which  they  live.  He  was  a  leader  in  the  Conven 
tion  that  framed  it,  and  the  most  influential  of  its  sup 
porters  in  the  Virginia  Convention  that  adopted  it.  An 
interesting  sumrmry  of  Mr.  Madison's  opinions  on  the 
subject  of  confederation,  will  be  found  in  the  twenty- 
fifth  volume  of  the  North  American  Review.  These 
opinions  were  addressed  to  General  Washington,  in  a 
letter  previous  to  the  Convention  in  Philadelphia. 

At  the  outset  of  the  federal  government,  Mr.  Madison 
proposed  a  tax  upon  imported  goods  and  tonnage.  Much 
opposition  was  excited,  but  finally  overcome  by  his  argu 
ments,  and  the  measure  agreed  to.  His  plan  favored  the 
commerce  of  France,  rather  than  that  of  Great  Britain. 
This  proposition  was  in  1789.  In  1794,  he  submitted  to 
the  house  his  fimous  commercial  resolutions.  The  sub 
stance  of  thsse  resolutions  was,  that  the  interest  of  the 
United  States  would  be  promoted  by  further  restrictions 


526  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

and  higher  duties,  and  that  provision  ought  to  be  made 
for  ascertaining  the  losses  sustained  by  American  citizens, 
from  the  operation  of  particular  regulations  of  any  country 
contravening  the  law  of  nations;  and  that  these  losses  be 
reimbursed,  in  the  first  instance,  out  of  the  additional 
duties  on  the  manufactures  and  vessels  of  countries  es 
tablishing  such  regulations.  These  were  brought  for 
ward  during  Washington's  administration. 

A  correct  estimate  of  Mr.  Madison's  worth  as  a  public 
servant,  induced  Jefferson,  when  entering  upon  his  duties 
as  president,  to  appoint  him  to  the  office  of  secretary  of 
state.  At  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  second  term, 
Mr.  Madison  was  elected  to  the  presidential  chair;  and 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1809,  he  was  inducted  into  the 
office  of  chief  magistrate,  with  the  usual  formalities. 

If  we  may  judge  from  the  expressions  of  his  inaugural 
address,  the  weighty  responsibilities  of  the  office  now  ten 
dered  him  by  the  suffrages  of  a  free  people,  were  duly  ap 
preciated.  But  he  shrunk  not.  With  a  steady  hand,  and 
an  honest  heart,  he  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties. 

The  "  orders  in  council  "  of  the  British  government 
were  in  full  force.  Their  effect  upon  this  country  was 
felt  severely.  Non-intercourse  on  our  part  was  enforced. 
Various  efforts  were  made  on  the  part  of  each  government 
for  an  adjustment,  but  ineffectually.  The  alienation  of 
feeling,  and  real  injury  inflicted  by  commercial  prohibi 
tions,  were  perhaps  greater  than  could  have  come  of  actual 
war.  After  frequent  collisions,  and  protracted  delays  be 
tween  the  two  governments,  President  Madison  sent,  a 
message  to  Congress,  recapitulating  causes  of  complaint 
against  Brit-iin,  and  recommending  a  formal  declaration 
of  war,  which  was  made  June  18,  1812. 

During  tliis  year,  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  the 
president  had  a  "talk"  with  the  Indians,  which  may  be 
considered  as  the  manifesto  of  the  American  government, 
establishing  the  principles  of  its  intercourse  with  them. 
It  contained  sentiments  honorable  to  himself  and  country, 
and  beautifully  and  appropriately  expressed. 

About  the  same  time,  in  view  of  a  strong  feeling  of  dis 
sent  to  the  war,  shown  by  the  Eastern  States,  the  governor 
of  Canada  had  the  audacity  to  send  an  agent  to  New  Eng- 


LIVES     OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  527 

land,  to  propose  measures  dishonorable  and  schismatic. 
Mr.  Madison  brought  this  thing  at  once  before  Congress, 
without  preferring  any  complaint  to  the  British  govern 
ment.  The  effect  was  to  inflame  the  American  people 
against  England,  and  to  screw  up  the  public  mind  to 
th.it  pitch  requisite  to  overlook  the  risk  and  expenses  of 
the  war. 

During  the  invasion  of  the  capital  by  the  British,  the 
president  retired  into  Virginia,  and,  for  the  time,  estab 
lished  the  government  at  Fredericktown,  when  he  issued  a 
proclamation  calling  upon  all  to  unite  their  energies,  in 
giving  effect  to  the  ample  means  possessed  for  "  chastising 
and  expelling  the  invader." 

On  the  17th  of  February,  1815,  the  president  and 
Senate  ratified  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  and  thus  were  freed 
from  the  horrors  of  a  war  declared  just  two  years  and 
eight  months  before.  This  event  was  followed  by  com 
mercial  treaties  between  the  two  countries  on  equitable 
terms.  But  English  commodities  were  thus  brought 
into  successful  competition  with  American  manufactures. 
These  demanded  protection,  and  the  president,  jealous 
of  the  decline  of  manufactures,  through  British  rivalry, 
soon  recommended  in  his  messages  prohibitory  measures 
and  conservative  duties. 

The  expiration  of  his  second  term  in  the  office  of  pres 
ident  now  arrived,  and  Mr.  Madison  retired  altogether 
from  public  life,  and  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days 
in  a  dignified  and  honorable  retirement,  living  in  the 
strictest  privacy  at  his  seat  in  Montpelier,  Virginia. 

In  August,  1830,  he  wrote  an  admirable  and  conclusive 
letter  on  the  agitated  topic  of  nullification.  It  was  ad 
dressed  to  Mr.  Edward  Everett,  of  Massachusetts.  It 
indicates  a  familiarity  with  the  constitution  peculiar  to 
him,  and  is  worthy  to  be  impressed  upon  the  mind  and 
heart  of  every  citizen. 

During  the  Litter  part  of  his  life,  Mr.  Madison  was  asso 
ciated  with  Mr.  Jefferson  in  the  institution  of  the  University 
of  Virginia,  and,  after  his  decease,  was  placed  at  its  head, 
with  the  title  of  rector.  lie  was  also  president  of  an  agri 
cultural  society  in  the  county  of  his  residence. 

Thus  did  he  occupy  his  declining  years.     And  on  the 


528  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

anniversary  of  the  day  on  which  the  Virginia  Convention 
ratified  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  of  which  JAMES 
MADISON  was  the  father,  this  philosopher,  statesman,  and 
patriot,  sunk  without  a  struggle  to  the  grave,  and  his  sou] 
became  a  resident  in  the  "  spirit  land."  He  died  at  his 
seat  in  Montpelier,  Virginia,  on  the  21st  day  of  June,  1836, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-six  years.  Peace  to  his 
memory  ! 


JAMES  MONROE. 

JAMES  MONROE,  the  fifth  president  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  September, 
1759.  His  ancestors  had  for  many  years  resided  in  the 
province  where  he  was  born. 

When  the  colonies  declared  themselves  a  free  and  inde 
pendent  nation,  James  Monroe,  now  in  his  seventeenth 
year,  was  completing  his  classical  education  at  the  College 
of  William  and  Mary.  His  youth  precluded  him  from  an 
active  participation  in  the  controversies  which  agitated  the 
country.  But  upon  the  first  formation  of  the  American 
army,  young  Monroe,  then  only  eighteen  years  of  age,  left 
college,  repaired  to  General  Washington's  head-quarters  at 
New  York,  and  enrolled  himself  as  a  cadet  in  the  regiment 
commanded  by  Colonel  Mercer.  The  young  cadet  es 
poused  the  cause  of  his  injured  country  with  a  firm  de 
termination  to  live  or  die  with  her  simple  for  liberty. 
He  shared  all  the  defeats  and  privations  which  attended 
the  footsteps  of  the  army  of  Washington,  through  the  dis 
astrous  battles  of  Flatbush,  Haerlem  Heights,  and  White 
Plains.  He  was  present  at  the  subsequent  evacuation  of 
New  York  and  Long  Island,  at  the  surrender  of  Fort 
Washington,  and  the  retreat  through  the  Jerseys.  After 
having  participated  in  the  adversities  of  the  gallant  defend 
ers  of  his  country,  he  rejoiced  with  them  in  great  and  un 
expected  success. 

At  the  battle  of  Trenton,  he  led  the  vanguard,  and  in  the 
act  of  charging  upon  the  enemy,  he  received  a  wound  in 
his  left  shoulder,  the  scar  of  which  remained  until  his 
death.  He  was  promoted  a  captain  of  infantry,  served, 
during  the  campaigns  of  1777  and  1778,  as  aid-de-camp  in 


LIVES    OF    THE     PRESIDENTS.  529 

the  sta'F  of  Lord  Stirling,  and  endeavored  to  collect  a  regi 
ment  for  the  Virginia  line,  which  was  recommended  by 
Washington,  and  authorized  by  the  state  legislature.  This 
did  not  succeed.  He  then  entered  the  office  of  Mr.  Jef 
ferson,  at  that  time  governor  of  Virginia,  and  pursued  the 
study  of  the  common  law.  He  served  as  a  volunteer  dur 
ing  the  two  years  of  his  legal  pursuits. 

In  1782,  he  entered  upon  a  different  field  of  action,  as 
the  supporter  of  a  system  of  laws  in  a  government  he  had 
fought  and  bled  to  establish.  During  this  year,  he  was 
elected,  by  King  George  county,  a  member  of  the  legisla 
ture  of  Virginia,  and  by  that  body  elevated  to  a  seat  in 
the  executive  council. 

On  the  9th  of  June,  1783,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of 
Congress,  and  on  the  13th  of  December  took  his  seat  at 
Annapolis;  the  same  day  on  which,  at  the  same  place, 
the  illustrious  leader  of  the  victorious  revolutionary  army 
resigned  his  commission.  For  three  years  he  was  a  useful 
member  of  the  confederate  Congress,  and  retired  from 
Congress  at  the  expiration  of  this  term,  as,  by  the  articles 
of  confederation,  no  one  was  allowed  to  serve  more  than 
three  years  in  six.  About  this  time,  he  formed  a  matrimo 
nial  alliance  with  Miss  Kortwright,  of  New  York  city,  a 
lady  celebrated  for  her  beauty  arid  conversational  powers, 
whose  external  accomplishments,  however,  were  surpassed 
by  those  of  her  mind,  and  those  endearing  qualities  of  the 
heart  which  cheer  the  gloom  of  existence. 

In  1787,  he  established  himself  in  Fredericksburg,  Vir 
ginia,  and,  in  1788,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the 
Virginia  Convention  to  decide  upon  the  federal  constitu 
tion.  He  opposed  its  adoption  in  the  form  presented,  pro 
posing  sundry  amendments.  Upon  the  death  of  the  Hon 
orable  William  Grayson,  in  December,  1789,  Mr.  Monroe 
was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy  thus  occasioned  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  which  he  filled  until  1794. 
He  fivored  the  objects  of  the  French  revolution,  and 
violently  opposed  President  Washington's  proclamation 
of  neutrality.  At  the  expiration  of  his  senatorial  office, 
he  was  appointed  minister  plenipotentiary  to  France. 
lie  was  received  in  that  country  with  splendid  cere 
mony  by  the  N  itional  Convention,  as  one  who  strongly 
45 


530  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

favored  the  revolution.  At  the  close  of  Washington's 
administration  lie  was  recalled  On  his  return  to  the 
United  States,  he  published  a  work,  in  explanation  of 
his  own  opinions  and  proceedings,  in  an  octavo  volume 
of  four  hundred  and  seven  pages. 

At  a  subsequent  period,  with  the  true  nobility  of  a  mind 
which  disdains  to  cherish  preconceived  opinions  if  errcne- 
ous,  he  cast  off  all  remembrance  of  past  animosity,  and 
harmonized  in  an  entire  and  perfect  veneration  of  the 
character  and  policy  of  Washington. 

In  1799,  Mr.  Monroe  was  elected  governor  of  Virginia, 
which  office  he  filled  three  years.  He  was  appointed,  on 
the  Mth  of  January,  1803,  envoy  extraordinary  to  France, 
and  in  April  of  the  same  year  minister  plenipotentiary  to 
England.  The  next  year,  he  was  appointed  minister  to 
Spain,  in  connection  with  Mr.  William  Pinckney,  for  the 
purpose  of  settling  a  disputed  question  of  boundary.  He 
remained  at  Madrid  five  months.  From  thence  he  re 
turned  to  London,  where,  in  1806,  he  was  joined  by  Mr. 
Pinckney.  Their  mission  ended  in  1807,  when  they  re 
turned  home.  For  a  little  while  he  enjoyed  uninterrupted 
quiet,  but,  in  1808,  was  again  elected  to  the  ofiice  of  gov 
ernor  of  Virginia,  served  three  years,  and,  in  181 1,  was 
appointed,  by  President  Madison,  secretary  of  state.  Upon 
the  resignation  of  the  secretary  of  war,  Mr.  Monroe  dis 
charged  voluntarily  all  the  duties  of  the  war  department, 
beside  his  own.  He  was  regularly  appointed  secretary  cf 
war  in  1814.  He  devoted  his  energies  to  that  exclusive 
department  until  the  return  of  peace,  then  reassumed  the 
office  of  secretary  of  state,  by  appointment,  and  continued 
therein  until  the  close  of  M;idison's  administration. 

On  the  5th  of  March.  1817,  Mr.  Monroe  was  inaugurated 
president  of  the  United  States.  Among  the  early  appoint 
ments  of  the  president,  was  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  as 
secretary  of  state.  About  the  1st  of  June,  the  president 
left  Washington  on  a  tour  through  the  states,  which  elicit 
ed  a  most  general  expression  of  kindness,  respect,  and 
courtesy.  After  the  session  of  Congress  held  1817-18, 
the  president  left  Washington,  accompanied  by  the  secre 
taries  of  war  and  the  navy,  to  survey  the  Chesapeake  Bay, 
and  the  country  lying  on  its  extensive  shores,  most  exposed 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  531 

to  the  invasions  of  an  enemy.  At  the  close  of  his  first 
term,  President  Monroe  was  reflected  by  a  unanimous 
vote,  with  the  single  exception  of  one  electoral  vote  in 
New  Hampshire,  which  was  for  J.  Q,.  Adams.  This  indi 
cated  the  confidence  of  a  free  people  in  their  president. 

The  administration  of  Mr.  Monroe  closed  on  the  3d  of 
March,  1825.  He  retired  to  his  residence  in  Loudon 
county,  Virginia,  where  he  discharged  the  ordinary  judi 
cial  functions  of  a  magistrate,  and  also  of  the  curator  of 
the  University  of  Virginia.  In  the  winter  of  1829-30,  he 
served  as  a  member  of  the  Convention  called  to  revise  the 
constitution  of  Virginia.  He  was  unanimously  chosen  to 
preside;  but,  before  the  close  of  the  labors  of  the  Conven 
tion,  he  was  compelled  to  retire,  because  of  severe  illness. 
The  ensuing  summer,  he  was  bereaved  by  death  of  his  be 
loved  partner.  Soon  after  this,  he  removed  to  New  York 
city,  where  the  flickering  lamp  of  life  held  out  its  linger 
ing  flame,  until  the  dawning  of  the  glorious  day  of  a 
nation's  birth  and  glory,  when  the  soldier  and  the  states 
man  was  folded  in  .the  embrace  of  death,  on  the  4th 
of  July,  1831,  aged  seventy-two  years. 

"  Such  was  the  man  who  presents  the  only  example  of 
one  whose  public  life  commenced  with  the  war  of  inde 
pendence,  and  is  identified  with  all  the  important  events 
of  our  history,  for  a  full  half  century." 


JOHN   QUINCY    ADAMS. 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  the  sixth  president,  was  born 
1767.  His  ancestors  resided  in  America  from  1630,  near 
a  century  and  a  half  before  the  revolution.  Thus  early 
rooted  in  the  soil,  a  warm  attachment  to  the  cause  and 
rights  of  America  has  been,  from  generation  to  generation, 
the  birthright  of  the  family.  The  principles  of  American 
independence  and  freedom  were  instilled  into  the  mind  of 
John  Q,uincy  in  the  very  da\fn  of  his  existence. 

From  the  eleventh  year  of  his  acre,  until  the  eighteenth, 
he  resided  for  the  most  part  in  Europe,  having  accom 
panied  his  fither  when  appointed  as  a  joint  commissioner 
to  France,  with  Franklin  and  Lee.  When  only  fourteen 


53*2  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

years  of  age,  he  was  selected  by  Mr.  F.  Dana,  minister  to 
Russia,  as  the  private  secretary  of  that  mission.  After 
remaining  in  Europe  seven  years,  and  being  a  visitant,  for 
a  longer  or  shorter  time,  of  France,  Spain,  Holland,  Rus 
sia,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Germany,  and  England,  he  so 
licited  permission  of  his  father  to  return  to  his  native 
country,  which  was  granted.  On  his  return  to  America, 
he  entered  Cambridge  College.  In  1767,  he  left  college, 
and  commenced  the  study  of  law,  at  Newburypcrt,  in  the 
office  of  Mr.  Theophilus  Parsons;  whence,  after  com 
pleting  his  law  studies,  he  became  a  resident  at  the  capital 
of  Massachusetts. 

In  April,  1793,  Mr.  Adams  published  a  short  series  of 
papers,  to  prove  that  the  duty  and  interest  of  the  United 
States  required  neutrality,  in  the  contest  between  England 
and  France.  These  were  published  before  President  Wash 
ington's  proclamation  of  neutrality.  He  was  the  first  to 
express  publicly  the  views  on  the  difficult  topic  cf  inter 
national  law,  respecting  our  treaty  of  alliance  with  France, 
which  were  confirmed  by  the  proclamation  of  the  presi 
dent.  Mr.  Adams's  essays  in  support  of  the  administra 
tion  were  read  and  admired  throughout  the  country  ;  and 
his  reputation  was  now  established  as  an  American  states 
man,  patriot,  and  political  writer  of  the  first  ordert  at  the 
early  age  of  twenty-seven. 

In  1794,  President  Washington  appointed  Mr.  Adams 
to  the  office  of  minister  resident  to  the  Netherlands ;  and 
near  the  close  of  Washington's  administration,  Mr.  Adams 
was  appointed  minister  plenipotentiary  to  Portugal,  but,  by 
the  advice  of  Washington,  and  the  appointment  of  his  fa 
ther,  John  Adams,  then  president,  his  destination  was 
changed  to  Prussia;  whence  he  was  recalled  in  1801. 
During  this  last  year  of  his  residence  in  Germany,  he  made 
an  excursion  into  the  province  of  Silesia,  describing  it  in 
a  series  of  letters,  that  have  been  collected  and  published 
in  a  volume,  and  have  been  translated  into  French  and 
German,  and  extensively  circulated  in  Europe. 

In  1802,  Mr.  Adams  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  from  Boston  district;  and,  in  1803,  he  was, 
by  the  legislature,  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  for  six  years,  from  March  4th,  1SC3.  During  the 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  533 

time  he  filled  this  office,  he  was  an  efficient  supporter  of 
Mr.  Jefferson's  administration,  although  he  bore  the  name 
of  the  opposite  party  in  politics.  In  pursuing  this  inde 
pendent,  course,  Mr.  Adams  incurred  the  disapprobation  of 
the  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  who,  by  a  small  majority 
of  votes,  in  1899,  elected  another  person  as  senator  from 
the  expiration  of  his  term,  and  passed  resolutions  of  in 
struction  to  their  senators,  containing  principles  which  Mr. 
Adams  disapproved.  Not  willing  to  conform  to  these  in 
structions,  nor  misrepresent  his  constituents,  he  resigned 
his  place  in  the  United  States  Senate. 

In  1809,  President  Madison  appointed  him  minister  to 
Russia.  Through  his  influence  with  the  Emperor  Alex 
ander,  the  mediation  of  Russia  was  tendered  between 
England  and  the  United  States.  He  was  placed  by  Madi 
son  at  the  head  of  the  commission  of  five,  by  which  the 
treaty  of  peace  between  the  two  countries  was  negotiated. 
The  cogency  and  skill  manifested  by  that  commission 
drew  from  the  marquis  of  Wellesley,  in  the  British  House 
of  Lords,  the  declaration,  that,  in  his  opinion,  "the  Ameri 
can  commissioners  had  shown  the  most  astonishing  supe 
riority  over  the  British,  during  the  whole  of  the  corre 
spondence." 

After  the  war  was  thus  closed  by  an  honorable  treaty, 
being  appointed  minister  at  London,  he  remained  there 
untif  1817;  when  he  was  recalled,  and,  by  President  Mon 
roe,  appointed  secretary  of  state.  Of  this  appointment, 
General  Jackson  said,  in  a  letter  to  the  president,  dated 
March  18th,  "  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  you  have 
made  the  best  selection  to  fill  the  department  of  state,  and 
I  am  convinced  that  his  appointment  will  afford  general 
satisfaction."  Mr.  Adams  is  mostly  entitled  to  the  credit 
of  the  measures  adopted  during  Monroe's  administration, 
in  reference  to  the  foreign  policy  of  the  government,  the 
successful  termination  of  our  difficulties  with  Spain,  the 
indemnity  of  our  merchants,  and  the  addition  of  East 
and  West  Florida  to  our  republic. 

Such  are  specimens  of  his  claims  to  the  highest  gift 

which  the  people  can   bestow  on  a  long-tried   and  faithful 

servant.     Various  circumstances  conspired  to  strengthen 

his  claims,  in  the  presidential  canvass,  for  the  term  begin- 

45* 


534  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

ning  in  1825.  Of  the  several  candidates  presented  to  the 
people  at  this  election,  Mr.  Adams  was  the  only  one  repre 
senting  the  non-si avehold ing  states.  Had  the  choice  been 
between  him  and  any  other  candidate  singly,  Mr.  Adams 
would  probably  have  been  chosen  by  the  votes  of  the  peo 
ple.  In  consequence  of  the  number  of  votes,  no  choice 
by  the  people  was  effected.  The  election  devolved  upon 
the  House  of  Representatives,  and  Mr.  Adams  was  chosen. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1825,  President  Adams  was 
inaugurated.  During  his  administration,  GENERAL  LA 
FAYETTE  took  leave  of  the  people,  on  his  return  to  France. 
[t  was  thought  proper  that  his  departure  should  be  from 
the  Capitol.  On  this  occasion,  the  farewell  address  was 
delivered  by  President  Adams,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
favorable  specimens  of  his  eloquence. 

The  administration  of  President  Adams  was  without 
regard  to  the  distinctions  of  party.  In  the  distribution  of 
offices,  he  asked  merely  as  to  the  qualifications  of  the  can 
didates.  In  a  word,  he  acted  with  that  stern  and  fearless 
integrity  which  has  marked  the  whole  course  of  his  politi 
cal  life. 

Notwithstanding  the  integrity  of  his  course,  a  deep- 
rooted  hostility  was  manifested,  in  efforts  to  embarrass  his 
administration.  But  still  the  country  progressed  rapidly 
in  wealth  and  prosperity.  The  great  works  of  internal 
improvements  were  prosecuted  with  much  spirit  and  vigor. 
During  his  continuance  in  office,  new  and  increased 
activity  was  imparted  to  those  powers  invested  in  the  fed 
eral  government,  for  the  development  of  the  resources  of 
the  country.  Indeed,  more  had  been  directly  effected  in 
this  respect,  than  during  the  administration  of  all  his  pred 
ecessors.  About  fourteen  million  dollars  were  expended 
for  the  permanent  benefit  of  the  country  during  the  four 
years  he  was  chief  magistrate. 

In  this  condition  was  the  country  when  his  administra 
tion  ended  —  an  administration  marked  by  definite  and 
consistent  policy  and  energetic  councils,  and  governed 
by  upright  motives,  but  from  the  beginning  devoted  to  the 
most  violent  opposition. 

Since  he  was  succeeded  in  the  presidency  by  General 
Jackson,  Mr.  Adams  has  still  taken  an  active  part  in 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  535 

public  affairs,  and  represented  his  native  district  in  Con 
gress.  He  occupies  the  position  in  that  body  to  which 
his  eminent  talents  and  distinguished  services  fully  en 
title  him.  His  speeches  are  marked  with  the  stern  and 
singular  independence  which  has  characterized  his  whole 
life,  and  comin.ind  the  respect  and  attention  which  must 
always  be  awarded  to  a  man  of  fearless  and  uncompromis 
ing  integrity.  Long  may  he  be  spared  to  the  councils  of 
the  nation  —  long  enough  to  witness  the  demolition  of  party 
prejudices,  and  to  enjoy  the  fruition  of  that  fame,  which 
has  been  purchased  by  the  devotion  of  a  life  to  the  service 
of  his  country ! 


ANDREW   JACKSON. 

ANDREW  JACKSON  was  born  at  W.axsaw,  about  forty-five 
miles  above  Carnden,  South  Carolina,  on  the  fifteenth  of 
March,  1767,  He  was  placed  at  school  at  the  academy  in 
his  native  town,  where  he  remained  until  the  British  made 
irruptions  into  that  region,  and  compelled  the  inhabitants 
to  join  either  the  American  or  British  standard,  or  to  for 
sake  their  country.  Andrew  arid  his  brother  Robert  hast 
ened  to  join  the  American  army.  The  corps  to  which 
they  belonged  was  surprised,  and  eleven  of  them  taken 
prisoners,  while  the  rest  fled  into  the  woods  for  conceal 
ment.  Andrew  and  his  brother  escaped,  by  entering  the 
bend  of  a  creek,  where  they  remained  through  the  night 
But,  on  the  next  day,  they  entered  a  house  at  hand,  to 
procure  food,  where  they  were  taken  prisoners  by  a  party 
of  dragoons.  The  British  officers  determined  to  employ 
them  in  menial  occupations,  and  thus  to  quench  their  bold 
spirits.  An  officer  ordered  our  hero  to  clean  his  boots,  and, 
on  his  refusing  to  do  so,  struck  at  him  with  a  sword,  by 
which  he  w  is  wounded  in  the  left  arm.  For  a  refusal  to 
obey  a  similar  command,  his  brother  was  severely  wounded 
on  the  head,  and  probably  his  death  hastened  thereby. 
His  mother  died  soon  after  his  brother  Robert,  leaving 
Andrew  the  sole  remaining  member  of  the  family.  He 
soon  after  entered  on  the  study  of  the  law  with  Judge 
McCay  and  Col.  John  Stokes,  of  Salisbury,  North  Carolina. 
In  1786,  he  obtained  a  license  to  practise  law,  and  soon 


536  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

after  removed  to  Nashville,  Tennessee,  where  he  entered 
on  an  extensive  and  profitable  practice.  He  was  appointed 
to  the  office  of  attorney-general,  which  he  held  for  several 
years. 

Even  at.  this  early  period  of  his  life,  he  manifested 
the  military  genius  that  in  after  years  gave  him  an 
elevated  rank  among  the  defenders  of  his  country.  In 
the  year  1796,  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Con 
vention  for  framing  a  state  constitution,  and  the  same 
year  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
in  Congress.  The  next  year,  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate ; 
but,  finding  his  situation  disagreeable,  he  resigned  his  seat, 
and  was  chosen  to  succeed  General  Conway  in  the  com 
mand  of  the  militia  of  Tennessee. 

In  1812,  he  raised  a  corps  of  two  thousand  five  hundred 
volunteers,  joined  the  United  States  army,  and  was  ordered 
to  Natchez,  Mississippi,  a  distance  of  about  six  hundred 
miles.  After  a  long  and  toilsome  march  through  the  for 
est,  he  reached  his  destination,  encamped  his  army  on  an 
elevated  position,  and  awaited  further  orders.  The  danger 
of  invasion  having  in  some  degree  subsided,  he  received 
orders  from  the  secretary  of  war  to  disband  his  trocps, 
and  transfer  his  stores  to  General  Wilkinson.  An  order 
so  manifestly  unjust  he  hesitated  not  to  disobey.  His 
army,  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  implored  him  not  to  leave 
them  to  the  alternative  of  enlisting  in  the  United  States 
army,  or  of  begging  their  way  to  their  homes  in  Tennes 
see.  General  Wilkinson  had  given  orders  for  his  officers 
to  enlist  men  from  Jackson's  division  :  but,  the  latter  hav 
ing  threatened  to  punish  any  man  that  should  dare  to  enter 
his  camp  with  such  a  design,  the  attempt  was  abandoned. 
Having  made  the  necessary  preparations,  he  commenced 
his  march  homeward.  The  roads  were  almost  impassable 
from  the  recent  rains,  and  the  swamps  and  streams  which 
they  were  compelled  to  cross  were  full.  But  the  spirits 
and  fortitude  of  their  general  inspired  the  soldiers  with 
confidence  in  him  and  in  themselves,  and  his  participation 
in  their  severest  trials — he  having  given  up  his  horses  for 
the  transportation  of  the  sick  —  repressed  every  inclination 
to  murmur.  His  whole  division  at  length  arrived  at  the 
place  of  their  departure,  and  were  disbanded. 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  537 

About  this  time,  the  bold  Tecumseh,  and  his  crafty 
brother,  the  prophet,  were  busily  engaged  in  the  execution 
of  a  scheme,  which  would  have  been  worthy  of  the  admi 
ration  and  respect  even  of  those  who  were  their  destined 
victims,  had  not  the  traces  of  British  influence  been  mani 
fest  in  all  their  operations.  Their  design  contemplated  the 
array  in  deadly  hostility  of  all  the  Indians  on  our  northern 
and  western  frontiers,  and  the  massacre,  on  a  day  ap 
pointed,  of  all  the  frontier  inhabitants.  To  effect  their 
design,  it  was  necessary  to  arouse  all  the  fierce  arid  vindic 
tive  passions  of  the  savages.  This  was  without  difficulty 
effected ;  but  it  was  impossible  to  restrain  them  till  the 
appointed  time.  Parties  of  the  northern  tribes  were  con 
tinually  making  depredations  on  the  frontiers.  At  Fort 
Mimms,  Mississippi,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  with 
a  large  number  of  women  and  children,  were  assembled. 
The  Indians,  to  the  number  of  six  or  seven  hundred,  car 
ried  the  fort  by  assault,  and  put  to  death  about  three  hun 
dred  persons.  When  news  of  this  outrage  arrived  in  Ten 
nessee,  the  whole  slate  was  ready  to  march  and  avenge 
its  slaughtered,  hapless  children.  An  expedition  into  the 
heart  of  the  Creek  country  was  immediately  planned. 
Volunteers  were  called  into  the  field,  at  whose  head  Gen 
eral  Jackson  was  placed,  though  he  was  laboring  under 
the  effects  of  a  broken  limb.  He  promptly  assumed  the 
command,  issued  the  necessary  camp  orders,  and  pro 
ceeded  to  obtain  the  requisite  supplies.  In  effecting  this 
purpose,  he  met  with  unexpected  difficulties  :  the  contract 
ors  found  themselves  unable  to  fulfil  their  engagements, 
and  Jackson  was  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  other 
means  of  supply ;  but,  after  all  his  exertions,  he  found  his 
army  but  ill  provided  with  the  stores  necessary  to  carry  on 
a  vigorous  campaign. 

Learning  from  the  Indian  runners,  whom  he  employed 
to  obtain  information,  that  the  enemy  were  collected  in 
force  on  the  south  side  of  the  River  Coosa,  General 
Jackson  det  iched  General  Coffee,  with  nine  hundred  men, 
to  attack  them.  On  their  arrival  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
enemy,  two  companies  were  sent  forward  to  draw  them 
from  their  camp,  who,  after  a  few  shots,  commenced  a  re- 


538  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

treat,  followed  by  the  Indians,  yelling  and  fighting  as  they 
came  on  :  on  reaching  the  main  body  of  the  Americans, 
they  were  received  with  a  tremendous  discharge  of  mus 
ketry,  and,  fighting  desperately,  and  contesting  the  ground 
inch  by  inch,  were  driven  back  to  their  encampment, 
which  was  taken,  the  enemy  completely  routed,  and  a  large 
number  of  them  were  killed  or  taken  prisoners.  For  sev 
eral  months  General  Jackson  continued  to  attack  the 
enemy,  having  to  contend  with  the  machinations  of  jeal 
ous  rivals,  and  with  the  discontents  of  his  soldiers,  arising 
from  an  almost  entire  destitution  of  provisions. 

Seated  one  day  at  the  root  of  a  tree,  making  a  repast  en 
acorns,  the  general  saw  a  soldier  approach,  who  complained 
that  he  was  nearly  starved,  and  was  destitute  of  the  means 
of  procuring  any  food.  "  I  make  it  a  point,"  said  the  gen 
eral,  "  never  to  turn  away  a  hungry  man,  when  it  is  in  my 
power  to  relieve  him,  and  will  most  cheerfully  divide  with 
you  whatever  I  have,"  at  the  same  time  offering  him  a 
handful  of  acorns.  The  soldier  returned  to  his  company, 
and  reported  that  the  general  lived  on  acorns,  and  that 
they  ought  no  more  to  complain. 

The  militia,  however,  who  had  little  experience  in  the 
sufferings  of  the  soldier's  life,  were  the  first  to  revolt  and 
abandon  the  camp.  The  general  ordered  the  volunteers, 
who  still  remained  faithful,  to  form  in  front  of  the  muti 
neers,  and  prevent  their  farther  progress.  The  militia, 
fearful  of  the  result  if  they  persisted,  yielded  and  returned 
to  their  camp.  The  next  day,  the  general  found  the  volun 
teers  in  the  condition  of  the  militia  the  day  before.  But  a 
short  time  elapsed  before  the  militia  were  drawn  up  in 
arms  to  reduce  to  obedience  the  very  men  who  had  a  few 
hours  before  conferred  on  them  a  similar  benefit;  the  vol 
unteers  returned,  much  mortified,  to  their  duty.  But  the 
discontent  was  not  yet  arrested.  General  Jackson  had 
promised  to  accompany  them  in  their  departure,  unless  re 
lief  should  arrive  in  two  days.  The  time  having  elapsed 
without  the  expected  arrival,  the  militia  claimed  the  fulfil 
ment  of  his  pledge  ;  he  began,  accordingly,  to  make  prepara 
tions  for  their  departure.  They  had  marched  but  a  few 
miles  before  they  met  a  hundred  and  fifty  beeves,  and  the 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  339 

general  determined  to  return  to  the  post  they  had  just  left ; 
the  troops  rjfased  obedience,  and  began  to  move  off  in  a 
body.  Alone,  surrounded  by  discontented  and  angry  men, 
deprived  of  the  use  of  his  left  arm,  he  met  the  crisis  with  a 
mind  th  it  was  never  known  to  quail  in  the  presence  of 
daogKf ;  he  seized  a  musket,  arid,  renting  it  on  the  neck  of 
his  horse,  cast  himself  in  front  of  the  column,  threatening 
to  shoot  the  first  man  that,  attempted  to  advance.  Here  he 
w.isfouiid  by  Major  Reid  and  General  Coffee,  who  awaited 
the  result  by  his  side. 

The  whole  column,  for  several  minutes,  preserved  a  sul 
len  silence,  while  two  companies,  that  had  remained  faith 
ful,  formed  behind  the  general,  with  orders  to  fire  as  soon 
as  he  should  give  the  example.  The  contagion  of  fear 
was  soon  communicated  from  one  to  the  other,  and  one  by 
one  the  whole  column  turned  and  marched  back. 

The  ensuing  campaign  began  under  the  same  disadvan 
tages  that  had  nearly  defeated  the  former.  General  Jack 
son  determined  no  longer  to  submit  to  the  delay  of  con 
tractors,  sent  agents  to  the  nearest  settlements  to  make 
purchnses,  at  any  price,  on  the  credit  of  the  contractors, 
which  immediately  brought  them  to  terms,  and  insured 
a  plentiful  supply  during  the  rest  of  the  campaign.  After 
several  successive  defeats,  having  even  been  driven  from  the 
Hickory  Ground,  which,  from  its  sacred  character,  they  be 
lieved  would  never  be  pressed  by  the  foot  of  a  white  man, 
the  Indians  sued  for  and  obtained  peace.  On  the  resigna 
tion  of  Gener  d  Harrison,  General  Jackson  received  the 
appointment  of  major-general  in  the  army  of  the  United 
St  ites.  His  attention  was  immediately  directed  to  the 
conduct  of  the  Spanish  authorities  of  Florida,  where  he 
learned  that  three  hundred  English  soldiers  had  been  suf 
fered  to  land,  and  that  they  were  engaged  in  exciting  the 
Indians  t^  hostilities. 

He  demanded  of  the  Spanish  governor  of  Pensacola  the 
observance  of  his  neutrality.  An  acrimonious  correspond 
ence  ensued  between  them,  which  had  no  other  result  than 
to  inflirne  still  more  the  indignation  of  General  Jackson. 
Colonel  Nichols,  a  British  officer,  now  arrived  at  Pensa- 
coli,  with  a  small  squadron,  and  took  his  head-quarters 
with  Governor  Maurequez.  He  issued  a  proclamation  to 


540  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

the  southern  inhabitants  of  the  United  States,  informing 
them  of  his  desire  of  delivering  them  from  bondage,  prom 
ising  them  relief  and  protection,  and  pledging  the  honor 
of  a  British  officer,  that  he  would  perform  all  he  had  prom 
ised.  He  awaited  for  a  short  time  the  effect  of  his  proc 
lamation,  and  then  advanced  to  the  attack  of  Fort  Bovv- 
yer,  from  which  lie  was  driven  with  the  loss  of  a  ship  of 
war  and  one  eye. 

General  Jackson  now  prepared  to  take  possession  of 
Pensacola,  intending  to  hold  possession  of  its  forts  and 
arsenals  until  Spain  could  send  thither  a  sufficient  force 
to  preserve  her  neutrality.  He  first  sent  a  flag  of  truce, 
which  was  fired  on.  He  then  sent  a  letter  to  the  governor 
by  a  Spaniard,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner.  The  gov 
ernor  rejected  his  proposals,  and  General  Jackson  attacked 
the  town,  which  in  a  short  time  surrendered.  The  forts 
were  blown  up,  and  the  British  retired  to  their  shipping  in 
the  bay. 

Every  movement  of  the  enemy  now  proved  to  General 
Jackson,  that  New  Orleans  was  their  principal  object. 
He  therefore  urged  the  governors  of  the  different  Southern 
States  to  send  in,  with  all  speed,  men  and  supplies,  with 
which  he  determined  to  defend  the  city  or  perish  in  the 
attempt.  His  call  was  not  neglected.  The  governors  of 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky  made  great  exertions  to  comply 
with  the  demands  of  Jackson  ;  and,  although  the  troops  thus 
obtained  did  not  increase  his  forces  sufficiently  to  banish 
his  fears  as  to  the  result,  General  Jackson  never  despaired 
of  being  able  to  meet  the  enemy  at  all  points.  He  now 
stationed  a  force  at  every  inlet  or  creek,  where  he  be 
lieved  there  was  the  smallest  chance  for  the  enemy  to 
approach.  The  American  flotilla,  of  five  gun-boats  and 
two  hundred  and  eighty-two  men,  was  captured  by  that  of 
the  enemy,  consisting  of  forty-three  boits  and  twelve  hun 
dred  men.  The  next  day,  Mr.  Shields,  purser  of  the  navy, 
with  Dr.  Murrell,  was  despatched  with  a  flag  of  truce  to 
Cat  Island,  to  relieve  the  wounded  Americans  who  were 
there  prisoners.  The  British  admiral,  believing  their  visit 
to  have  been  intended  for  the  purpose  of  observation,  de 
tained  them,  and  endeavored  to  learn  from  them  the  situa 
tion  and  number  of  the  forces  of  General  Jackson. 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  54l 

Mr.  Shields,  from  the  moment  he  was  taken,  became 
very  deaf,  and  the  British  officer,  failing  to  elicit  from  them 
the  least  information,  determined  to  put  them  in  a  room 
together,  and  place  some  one  at  hand,  to  listen  to  their 
conversation.  Suspecting  something  of  the  kind,  they 
framed  their  discourse  to  suit  their  own  purposes.  After 
speaking  of  their  condition  and  prospects,  and  their  defeat 
of  all  attempts  of  the  British  to  obtain  information  from 
them,  Shields  continued,  —  "But  how  greatly  these  gen 
tlemen  will  be  disappointed  in  their  expectations !  for 
Jackson,  with  the  twenty  thousand  men  he  now  has,  and 
the  reinforcements  from  Kentucky  which  must  speedily 
reach  him,  will  be  able  to  destroy  any  force  that  can  be 
landed  from  these  ships."  All  this  was  heard  by  the  Brit 
ish,  and  no  doubt  contributed  to  the  abandonment  of  their 
design  so  soon  after  their  defeat. 

General  Jackson  continued  his  preparations  for  resist 
ance.  Patroles  were  stationed  through  the  country  to 
convey  to  him  whatever  information  they  could  obtain. 
The  legislature  of  the  state  laid  an  embargo  on  all  vessels 
in  the  port,  that  their  crews  might  be  placed  in  the  navy, 
and  that  the  enemy  might  not  be  supplied  thereby  with 
provisions.  Surrounded  with  spies  and  disaffected  per 
sons,  General  Jackson  suggested  to  the  legislature  the 
necessity  of  suspending  the  execution  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus.  But  they  moved  so  slowly,  and  entered  the  work 
with  so  much  reluctance,  that  he  assumed  the  responsibil 
ity,  -and  at  once  declared  martial  law.  With  all  the  vigi 
lance  he  had  exercised,  he  had  the  mortification  to  learn 
that  the  British  had  landed  unobserved  through  an  ob 
scure  bayou,  and  had  made  prisoners  of  a  company  of 
militia,  on  the  Mississippi.  He  ordered  the  signal  guns 
for  battle  to  be  fired,  marched  through  the  streets  of  the 
city  to  meet  the  enemy  below,  surrounded  on  all  sides  with 
screaming  women  and  children.  Compassionating  their 
distress,  he  requested  an  aid-de-camp  to  tell  them,  in 
French,  that  the  enemy  should  never  reach  the  city.  The 
effect  was  immediate,  Quiet  and  confidence  were  re 
stored.  Under  cover  of  night,  General  Coffee  advanced 
towards  the  British  lines.  The  ship  of  war  Caroline  was 
directed  to  fall  down  the  river,  and  open  a  fire  on  the 
46 


542  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

British  camp,  which  was  to  be  the  signal  of  attack  by  land. 
As  the  Caroline  floated  slowly  down  the  river,  she  was 
hailed,  by  the  first  picket,  in  a  low  voice  ;  but,  no  answer 
being  returned,  she  was  supposed  to  be  a  vessel  sent  by  the 
disaffected  in  New  Orleans,  loaded  with  provisions,  for  the 
British,  and  permitted  to  anchor  in  a  place  opposite  to 
the  very  middle  of  the  encampment ;  where  suddenly  she 
opened  a  most  destructive  fire,  and  compelled  the  British 
to  leave  their  camp,  and  take  refuge  in  the  surrounding 
darkness. 

General  Coffee  had  not  yet  reached  the  British,  and, 
pressing  on  as  fast  as  possible  for  that  purpose,  unexpect 
edly  received  the  fire  of  their  whole  line.  He  charged 
them  in  turn,  and  drove  them  from  ditch  to  ditch,  whenever 
they  made  a  stand,  until  they  reached  a  branch  of  the 
levee,  behind  which  they  were  sheltered  from  the  Ameri 
can  fire,  and  from  which  it  was  believed  to  be  too  dangerous 
to  attempt  to  dislodge  them.  Meanwhile,  on  the  right,  where 
General  Jackson  commanded,  the  Americans  were  equal 
ly  successful,  and  the  British  were  thrice  beaten,  and  had 
retreated  for  nearly  a  mile.  Learning  the  strong  position 
taken  by  the  British  on  the  left,  General  Jackson  found  it 
necessary  to  relinquish  the  idea,  which  he  had  hitherto 
entertained,  of  capturing  the  army,  and  concluded  to  re 
main  in  the  defensive.  He  strengthened  his  defences  by 
every  means  in  his  power,  filling  the  breastwork  with 
bags  of  cotton,  and  felt  fully  prepared  to  give  the  enemy  a 
reception  which  would  banish  all  desire  of  further 'ac 
quaintance. 

On  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  January,  information  was 
brought  to  the  lines,  that  the  enemy,  in  full  force,  were  ad 
vancing  rapidly  to  the  attack.  The  outposts  had  hardly  time 
to  come  in  before  the  British  came  in  sight.  A  rocket 
from  each  end  of  their  line  was  the  signal  to  commence 
their  fire.  They  filled  the  air  with  rockets,  shells,  and 
cannon  balls,  and  approached  with  a  confidence  and  stead 
iness  which  seemed  to  insure  victory.  But  now  the  Ameri 
cans  poured  in  upon  them,  from  every  part  of  their  line,  a 
most  tremendous  fire  of  musketry,  cannon,  and  grape  shot, 
which  annihilated  the  front  of  the  column,  and  piled  a 
rampart  of  dead  bodies  in  front  of  the  British  line ;  they 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  543 

wavered  for  a  moment,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
braver  than  the  rest,  retreated  before  the  range  of  the 
American  guns.  General  Packenham,  on  the  first  appear 
ance  of  hesitation  in  his  advancing  columns,  placed  him 
self  at  their  head,  and  urged  them  on  ;  but  it  was  but  for 
a  moment;  he  immediately  fell,  pierced  with  bullets.  Gen 
erals  Gibbs  and  Keene  were  carried,  wounded,  from  the 
field.  Almost  maddened  with  desperation,  General  Lambert, 
and  the  surviving  officers,  again  urged  the  army  to  the  con 
flict,  and  again  the  brave  fellows  advanced,  to  become  vic 
tims  for  the  American  riflemen,  who  never  desired  a  larger 
mark  than  a  squirrel  or  a  tree-top.  Again  the  roll  of  the 
American  musketry  began,  and  continued  without  one 
moment's  intermission,  sounding  not  like  a  discharge  of 
fire-arms,  but  like  a  peal  of  thunder,  of  which  the  sound 
died  not  away.  It  was  too  much  even  for  the  flower  of 
Wellington's  army,  the  bravest  soldiers  in  Europe,  to  with 
stand  ;  they  rushed  in  confusion  from  the  field,  leaving  it, 
for  the  space  of  three  hundred  yards,  along  the  whole 
front  of  the  American  line,  covered  with  the  dead  and 
wounded,  over  whom  they  were  compelled  to  leap,  in  ef 
fecting  their  retreat,  often  slipping  down  upon  the  field,  in 
the  blood  of  their  slaughtered  comrades.  The  British 
retired  within  their  lines  ;  and,  despairing,  with  their  weak 
ened  and  dispirited  forces,  of  success  in  attempting  to  dis 
lodge  the  Americans,  they  retreated  to  their  shipping,  Gen 
eral  Lambert  having  written  a  request  to  the  conqueror 
that  their  wounded  should  be  provided  with  assistance.  In 
a  few  days,  news  of  peace  arrived,  arid  filled  every  heart 
with  unmingled  joy. 

A  treaty  with  Spain  having  been  effected,  by  which  that 
power  consented  to  cede  Florida  to  the  United  States, 
General  Jackson,  with  a  salary  of  $5000,  was  appointed 
governor,  and  fulfilled  the  duties  of  his  office  until  Sep 
tember,  when,  having  effected  his  object  in  gaining  com 
plete  possession  of  Florida,  he  returned  to  Tennessee. 

He  was  next  appointed  minister  to  Mexico,  but  declined 
to  serve  in  that  capacity,  since  he  could  not  consistently 
recognize  the  claims  of  the  emperor. 

He  was  then  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate, 
where  he  displayed  the  same  zeal  and  activity  in  the  ser- 


544  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

vice  of  his  country,  which  had  characterized  his  military 
career. 

Li  the  mean  time,  having  been  selected  as  a  candidate 
for  the  presidency,  he  resigned  his  seat,  and  returned  to 
his  family  in  Tennessee.  He  was  elected  president  of  the 
United  States,  and  was  inaugurated  on  the  fourth  of  March, 
1629.  Among  the  measures  adopted  during  his  adminis 
tration,  were  the  modification  of  the  tariff,  the  veto  of  the 
Maysville  road  bill,  the  removal  of  the  Georgia  Indians, 
the  veto  of  the  bill  rechartering  the  United  States  Bank, 
the  defeat  of  nullification,  the  removal  of  the  depos 
its  in  the  United  States  Bank,  and  the  recovery  of  indem 
nity  for  the  aggressions  of  Brazil,  Denmark,  and  France. 
He  was  elected  for  a  second  term  to  the  presidency,  and, 
at  the  close  of  his  administration,  retired  from  public  life, 
to  enjoy  the  pleasures  afforded  by  agricultural  pursuits,  and 
the  quiet  essential  to  the  comfort  of  his  declining  age. 


MARTIN  VAN  BUREN. 

MARTIN  VAN  BUREN,  the  eighth  president  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  at  Kinderhook,  New  York  state,  De 
cember  5th,  1782.  His  parents  were  of  Dutch  descent, 
and  in  humble  circumstances.  The  elements  of  his 
education  were  received  at  an  academy  in  his  native 
village,  which  he  left  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  com 
menced  the  study  of  the  law,  in  the  office  of  Francis  Syl 
vester,  Esq.,  which  study  he  finished  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  with  Mr.  William  P.  Van  Ness.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1803,  and  commenced 
practice  at  Kinderhook.  He  removed  to  Hudson  in  1809 ; 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  state  Senate,  1812 ;  and,  in 
1815,  was  appointed  attorney-general  of  the  state,  from 
which  office  he  was  removed,  by  a  revolution  in  politics, 
1819,  which  elevated  another  party. 

From  1811  to  1813,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  identified  with 
that  class  of  politicians  opposed  to  the  war  with  England, 
but  subsequently  advocated  the  propriety  of  the  war,  and 
was  an  efficient  supporter  of  President  Madison.  On  the 
6th  February,  1821,  he  was  appointed  by  the  New  York 
legislature  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate.  In 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  545 

August  following,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Convention 
called  to  revise  the  constitution  of  the  state  of  New  York. 
In  December,  1821,  he  took  his  seat  in  the  United  States 
Senate.  During  the  presidential  canvass,  which  resulted 
in  the  election  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  Van  Buren  was 
a  zealous  supporter  of  Mr.  Crawford,  and  distinguished 
for  his  zeal  and  activity  against  Adams's  administration. 

In  November,  1828,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  elected  gov 
ernor  of  New  York  state.  Though  his  gubernatorial 
career  was  brief,  it  was  signalized  by  the  adoption  of  the 
safety  fund  system,  which  combined  the  moneyed  interests 
of  the  empire  state  in  an  indissoluble  league  of  mutual  de 
pendence.  On  the  12th  of  March,  he  resigned  the  office 
of  governor,  being  appointed  by  President  Jackson  to  the 
office  of  secretary  of  state.  In  April,  1831,  he  resigned 
this  station,  assigning  various  reasons  satisfactory  to  the 
president,  who  appointed  him  the  same  year  to  succeed 
Mr.  McLane  as  minister  to  St.  James.  This  appointment 
was  not  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  His  rejection  by  this 
body  was  deemed  by  his  friends  a  "  prescriptive  act,"  but 
was  more  than  made  amends  for  by  his  election,  in  1833,  to 
the  office  of  v'^e-president,  by  virtue  of  which  he  presided 
over  the  same  body  that  so  recently  rejected  him  as  min 
ister  to  England. 

More  through  the  influence  of  party  feeling  and  the  ap 
proval  of  President  Jackson,  than  from  personal  popu 
larity,  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  president  of  the 
United  States,  and  was  inaugurated  March  4,  1837.  His 
presidential  career  was  one  of  difficulty,  doubt,  and  peril, 
owing  to  the  unfortunate  derangement  of  our  fiscal  affairs, 
and  the  generally  embarrassed  state  of  the  country. 

His  administration  was  far  from  being  a  popular  one; 
and  he  had  to  contend  with  a  violent  opposition.  No 
pains  were  spared  to  prevent  his  reelection ;  and  in  this 
success  was  realized.  He  was  succeeded  by  General 
William  H.  Harrison  in  the  presidency,  and  retired  to  his 
native  place  in  New  York  state,  where  he  now  is  residing. 

What  subsequent   changes  may  occur  in  the  political 

world,    to   bring   him   out  again   into  public  life,   is  not 

known  ;  but,  from  the  counter  current  now  set  in,  there 

is  a  probability  that  the  next  change  in  the  administration 

46* 


546  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

will   see  the  party  that   elevated  Mr.  Van  Buren  to  the 
presidency  again  in  power. 

Whether  or  not  his  age  or  inclination  will  again  favor 
active  participation  in  public  life,  or  continued  retirement 
for  the  future,  remains  to  be  seen.  The  latter  would  prob 
ably  be  in  accordance  with  the  dignity  or  an  ex-president 
of  the  United  States. 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON. 

WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON  was  born  at  Berkley,  in 
Charles  county,  Virginia,  on  the  9th  of  February,  1773, 
and  was  educated  at  Hampden  Sidney  College.  He  lost 
his  father  in  1791,  and  found  himself  poor  in  the  gifts  of 
fortune,  but  rich  in  the  lessons  of  liberty  and  patriotism, 
derived  from  his  noble  father.  He  commenced  the  study 
of  medicine,  and  pursued  it  with  earnest  devotion,  until 
the  war-whoop  of  the  Indians,  in  the  north-west,  aroused 
in  his  mind  an  ardent  desire  to  distinguish  himself 
among  the  defenders  of  his  country.  Though  this  incli 
nation  was  opposed  by  his  guardian,  Robert  Morris,  yet 
he  could  not  divest  himself  of  it ;  and  when  he  found  his 
wish  approved  by  General  Washington,  he  gave  to  it  the 
energies  of  his  whole  being,  and,  with  the  liveliest  grat 
itude,  received  from  him  an  ensign's  commission  in  a 
company  of  artillery  destined  to  be  stationed  on  the  Ohio. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  entered  a  field  of  toil  and  strife, 
that  many  a  veteran  would  gladly  avoid. 

The  deep  and  deadly  hatred  of  the  north-western  In 
dians  against  us  had  been  sedulously  fostered  by  Britain 
through  the  whole  course  of  the  revolutionary  war,  and 
never  ceased  with  her  acknowledgment  of  our  inde 
pendence.  Though  the  brightest  jewel  had  fallen  from 
her  crown,  she  was  determined  at  least  to  mar  its  beauty, 
and,  if  possible,  to  shatter  and  destroy  it.  Large  amounts 
of  presents  had  been  annually  lavished  on  the  Indians, 
who  were  thus  induced  to  believe  in  the  sincerity  of  Brit 
ish  professions  of  friendship,  and  to  give  them  aid  in  all 
their  machinations  against  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
During  the  six  years  following  the  peace  of  1783,  it  is 
estimated  that  1500  defenceless  inhabitants  became  vie- 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  547 

tims  of  savage  ferocity.  In  1794,  Wayne  advanced  into 
the  heart  of  the  Indian  country,  and  on  the  20th  of  August 
he  gained  a  complete  victory  over  the  combined  forces 
of  2000  Indians  and  Canadians.  In  the  despatch  to  the 
president,  the  name  of  Harrison  is  honorably  mentioned. 

In  1794,  when  he  was  but  twenty-one  years  of  age,  Har 
rison  received  a  captain's  commission,  and  was  placed  in 
command  of  Fort  Washington,  with  extensive  powers  and 
heavy  responsibilities,  which  would  have  been  intrusted  to 
none  but  a  man  of  tried  integrity  and  sterling  ability. 
He  married  the  daughter  of  John  Cleves  Symmes,  distin 
guished  as  the  founder  of  the  Miami  settlements. 

In  1797,  Harrison  resigned  his  commission,  and  re 
ceived  the  appointment  of  secretary  of  the  North-west 
Territory.  Two  years  after,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  he 
was  elected  delegate  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States.  The  absorbing  question  of  legislation 
for  his  constituents,  was  the  disposal  of  the  public  lands. 
Hitherto,  the  lands  had  been  sold  only  in  large  parcels, 
not  less  than  4000  acres.  Of  course,  very  few  could  pur 
chase  from  government,  but  were  compelled  to  obtain  it 
from  the  extensive  dealers  at  a  considerable  advance  in 
price.  Harrison,  from  his  extensive  acquaintance  with 
the  wants  and  wishes  of  the  actual  settlers,  was  appointed 
chairman  of  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of 
making  sales  of  smaller  parcels,  in  order  that  the  settler 
might  obtain  it  at  the  minimum  price,  and  the  exorbitant 
exactions  of  monopolizers  be  thereby  repressed.  Through 
his  exertions,  the  bill  granting  the  sale  of  sections  of  320 
acres  was  passed ;  subsequently  it  was  sold  in  still  smaller 
parcels. 

In  1800,  Harrison  was  appointed  governor  of  Indiana. 
Through  the  whole  course  of  his  administration,  his  per 
fect  integrity  shone  conspicuous.  Though  he  possessed 
the  power  of  confirming  or  of  rejecting  certain  grants 
to  individuals,  the  stain  of  a  bribe  never  rested  on  his 
hand. 

But  one  heart  fraught  with  malice  was  found  to  harbor 
a  wish  to  tarnish  the  unsullied  integrity  of  Harrison.  One 
Mclntosh  ventured  to  accuse  him  of  defrauding  the  In 
dians  in  the  treaty  of  Fort  Wayne.  An  action  for  slander 


548  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

was  brought  against  him,  which  resulted  in  a  fine  of  4000 
dollars,  of  which  Harrison  gave  one  third  to  the  orphans 
of  some  of  those  who  had  perished  in  the  field,  and  re 
stored  the  remainder  to  the  culprit  himself. 

As  commissioner  and  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs, 
his  correspondence  with  Congress  exhibits  him  in  the 
most  favorable  light. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  was  particularly 
anxious,  at  this  time,  to  avoid  a  collision  with  the  Indians, 
while  the  inclinations  of  the  Indians,  whetted  by  the  false 
representations  of  the  British,  all  urged  them  to  war. 
The  treaty  of  Fort  Wayne  was  made  in  the  absence 
of  Tecumseh;  and,  on  his  return,  he  threatened  with 
death  some  of  the  chiefs  who  had  executed  it.  Harrison 
invited  him  to  a  conference.  Tecumseh  approached  the 
conference  with  four  hundred  warriors,  whose  appearance 
indicated  deep  and  determined  hostility.  Tecumseh  urged 
his  argument  against  the  right  of  one  tribe  to  sell  land 
without  the  consent  of  all.  Harrison  replied,  that  the 
Miamis,  with  whom  he  had  formed  a  treaty,  were  the 
original  possessors  of  the  lands  they  had  transferred,  and 
the  Shawnese,  who  had  been  driven  by  the  Creeks  from 
Georgia,  had  no  right  to  attempt  to  control  them  in  any 
thing  relating  to  their  territory.  This  roused  the  ire  of 
Tecumseh.  He  sprang  to  his  feet,  exclaiming,  "It  is 
false  !  "  and,  calling  on  his  warriors,  they  gathered  around 
him,  with  war-clubs  in  their  hands,  raised  to  begin  the  bat 
tle.  General  Harrison  calmly  drew  his  sword,  repressed 
the  ardor  of  his  men  to  punish  their  insolence,  and,  with  a 
resolute  brow  and  appearance,  his  keen  eye  resting  on  that 
of  the  fierce  Tecumseh,  told  him  that  he  was  a  bad  man ; 
and  that  he  would  have  no  further  talk  with  him  ;  that  he 
must  return  to  his  camp,  and  leave  the  settlements  im 
mediately. 

The  bold  warrior  found  that  he  had  mistaken  his  man. 
From  the  mildness  and  urbanity  of  his  general  bearing,  he 
evidently  believed  that  he  had  only  to  make  demonstrations 
of  hostility,  to  obtain  from  him  whatever  he  desired ;  but 
when  he  saw  the  same  calm,  but  resolute  exterior,  differ 
ing  in  nothing  save  in  the  additional  keenness  of  his  flash 
ing  eye,  and  the  more  erect  and  lofty  bearing  of  his  person, 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  549 

he  paused  for  a  moment,  then  departed  from  the  council, 
followed  by  his  braves.  The  next  day,  Tecumseh  apolo 
gized  for  his  violence,  and  solicited  another  interview, 
which  terminated  in  Tecumseh's  declaration,  that  he  still 
adhered  to  his  opinion  of  the  preceding  day.  The  danger 
of  war  with  England  every  day  becoming  more  imminent, 
the  Indians  became  more  daring.  A  large  body  of  them 
had  collected  at  Prophet's  Town ;  and  now  General  Harri 
son  prepared  to  repress  their  hostilities,  either  by  negotia 
ting  a  peace  or  by  chastising  them.  The  Indians  desired 
a  conference  for  the  purpose  of  assassinating  him  in 
council,  as  it  was  afterwards  ascertained;  but  he  knew  too 
well  the  Indian  character  to  be  thrown  off  his  guard,  and 
immediately  requested  two  of  his  officers  to  choose  a  place 
for  a  camp.  They  selected  an  elevated  spot,  surrounded 
with  low,  moist  ground,  acknowledged  by  all  to  be  well 
adapted  to  their  purpose.  On  this  ground  the  army  en 
camped  in  order  of  battle,  ready  to  engage  at  a  moment's 
warning.  The  next  morning,  General  Harrison  arose  be 
fore  the  dawn,  and  sat  with  his  aids  by  the  fire,  when  the 
alarm  was  given  by  a  musket-shot  from  one  of  the  senti 
nels,  succeeded  by  the  war-whoop,  and  a  fierce  attack  by 
the  Indians.  The  general  mounted  his  horse,  and  hast 
ened  to  the  point  of  attack ;  where  finding  his  men  hard 
pressed,  he  ordered  up  two  companies  to  their  support. 
Major  Davis  and  Colonel  White  fell  in  attempting  to  dis 
lodge  some  Indians  from  a  clump  of  trees  near  at  hand. 
In  the  act  of  leading  a  company  to  reenforce  the  right 
flank,  the  general's  aid,  Colonel  Owen,  of  Kentucky,  fell  at 
his  side.  The  battle  continued  for  some  hours,  when  the 
Indians  were  completely  routed,  though  the  solemn  chant 
of  the  prophet  was  heard  in  the  intervals  of  the  battle, 
mingling  with  the  rattling  of  deer's  hoofs,  invoking  the  aid 
of  the  Great  Spirit. 

A  short  time  previous  to  the  declaration  of  war  with 
Great  Britain,  Governor  Harrison  was  constituted  a  major- 
general  in  the  militia  of  Kentucky.  But  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  ignorant  of  the  circumstances  connected 
with  his  appointment,  ordered  General  Winchester,  of  the 
regular  army,  to  take  the  command.  General  Harrison 
consequently  retired  to  resume  his  duties  as  governor  of 


550  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

Indiana.  But  as  soon  as  the  president  learned  the  actual 
situation  of  affairs,  and  that  Harrison  was  the  favorite  of 
the  west,  the  chief  command  in  the  north-west  was  given 
him.  He  received  orders  to  retake  Detroit,  to  penetrate 
Canada  as  far  as  events  would  justify,  and,  in  fine,  to  act  in 
all  cases  according  to  his  own  judgment.  The  order  of 
government  was  obeyed  to  the  letter.  Detroit  was  re 
captured.  Canada  was  penetrated  far  enough  to  allow 
the  British  to  feel  the  pressure  of  the  iron  hand  of  war. 

The  campaign  opened  under  the  most  discouraging 
auspices.  General  Winchester,  with  a  considerable  force, 
had  encamped  at  the  Rapids,  where  messengers  arrived 
informing  him  that  the  carnp  of  Frenchtowri  was  hourly 
threatened  with  an  attack  from  the  Indians.  He  sent  six 
hundred  men  to  support  its  soldiers,  who,  arriving  unex 
pectedly,  gained  a  complete  victory  over  the  British  and 
Indians.  They  resolved  to  maintain  their  position,  and 
General  Winchester,  with  his  whole  force,  advanced  to 
their  support;  but,  omitting  to  fortify  his  position,  it  was 
attacked  by  a  large  force  under  Colonel  Proctor,  and  car 
ried,  with  great  loss  to  the  Americans.  All  the  wounded 
Americans,  with  the  consent  of  Proctor,  were  inhumanly 
butchered.  But  even  under  these  deep  provocations  the 
noble  Harrison  never  retaliated.  "  Let  an  account  of 
murdered  innocence  be  opened  in  heaven  against  our 
enemies  alone,"  says  he,  in  an  order  issued  after  learning 
the  tragical  result  of  Winchester's  expedition.  The  army 
now  fortified  Fort  Meigs  in  expectation  of  an  attack. 
General  Harrison  himself  was  in  the  fort.  On  the  26th  of 
April,  Colonel  Proctor,  with  a  large  force  of  British  and 
Indians,  approached  it,  and  commenced  a  severe  cannon 
ade,  which  continued  with  intervals  for  several  days.  On 
the  4th  of  May,  General  Harrison  received  intelligence  of 
the  approach  of  the  Kentucky  militia,  under  General  Clay. 
He  determined  to  raise  the  siege.  He  ordered  General 
Clay  to  detach  eight  hundred  men  to  seize  the  batteries  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  spike  the  guns,  and  return 
at  once  to  their  boats,  and  with  his  main  body  to  fight  his 
way  to  the  camp.  The  whole  was  successful ;  but  the 
division  of  eight  hundred  men  remained  in  the  batteries, 
instead  of  retiring  according  to  orders,  and  were  almost 


LIVES    OF    THE    PRESIDENTS.  551 

totally  annihilated,  about  two  thirds  being  killed  and  taken 
prisoners.  The  prisoners,  according  to  Proctor's  usual 
policy,  were  given  over  to  the  Indians  for  their  amusement, 
and  numbers  massacred  in  cold  blood  under  the  eye  of 
Proctor,  till  Tecumseh  came  up  from  the  batteries,  and  ex 
claiming,  "  For  shame!  it  is  a  disgrace  to  kill  defenceless 
prisoners  !  "  put  an  end  to  the  slaughter. 

On  the  10th  of  September,  Perry  gained  his  brilliant 
victory  over  the  British  squadron  on  Lake  Erie,  and  on  the 
27th,  General  Harrison  entered  and  encamped  on  the  ruins 
of  Maiden,  which  the  British  had  dismantled  and  forsaken. 

The  necessary  preparations  completed,  General  Harrison 
started  in  pursuit  of  Proctor.  On  the  5th  of  October, 
encamped  on  a  narrow  strip  of  land  between  the  River 
Thames  on  the  left,  and  a  swamp  on  the  right,  where  lay 
Tecumseh  and  his  warriors,  Colonel  Johnson,  with  his 
mounted  men,  was  ordered  to  break  the  British  line,  and 
to  form  in  their  rear.  This  movement  was  executed  with 
perfect  success,  and,  after  an  obstinate  resistance  from  the 
Indians,  he  retained  possession  of  the  ground.  The  cap 
ture  of  nearly  the  whole  British  army  was  the  result. 
Proctor,  however,  haunted  by  fears  of  punishment  should 
he  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Americans,  left  the  field  be 
fore  the  battle  was  ended. 

Afterwards,  Harrison  was  appointed  Indian  commissioner, 
was  elected  member  of  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives, 
of  the  Senate  of  Ohio,  and  of  that  of  the  United  States,  and 
finally  minister  to  Colombia.  In  every  capacity  in  which 
he  was  called  to  act,  he  was  never  false  to  his  noble  char 
acter  ;  he  evinced  the  same  stern,  uncompromising  integrity, 
the  same  republican  simplicity,  the  same  regard  for  the 
rights  of  those  with  whom  he  was  associated  in  command. 
These  were  the  characteristics  which  drew  upon  him  the 
eyes  of  his  country,  when  seeking  among  her  sons  for  an 
honest  man  to  fill  the  presidential  chair.  It  was  this,  his 
almost  perfect  character,  that,  on  his  nomination  for  the 
presidency,  drew  from  the  sagacious  Adams  the  exclama 
tion,  "  He  will  go  in  like  a  whirlwind."  Men  have 
doubted,  and  justly  too,  whether  to  call  him  Great.  He 
was  not  "  The  Great."  This  name  has  been  too  long  as 
sociated  with  Alexander,  and  men  of  his  class,  to  allow  it 


552  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

to  sully  the  fair  fame  of  our  Harrison.  None,  but  a  few 
misguided  men,  have  attempted  to  affix  it  to  the  name  of 
Washington  himself.  Harrison  loved  his  species  too  much 
to  become  Great.  He  knew  that,  to  become  so,  the  souls 
of  one  hundred  thousand  men  must  be  his,  to  control,  di 
rect,  and  sacrifice,  as  he  chose ;  the  rights  of  millions  must 
be  sacrificed  to  his  ambition  and  vanity;  the  tears  and 
groans  of  the  oppressed,  the  widow,  and  the  fatherless,  must 
rise,  and  would  rise,  to  Heaven,  and  yet  be  unheard  by  him. 
The  man,  who,  like  Harrison,  reads  his  order  for  the  day 
from  the  "  Book  of  Life,"  can  never  become  Great.  He 
finds  there  too  much  true  democracy,  too  much  value  at 
tached  to  a  human  soul,  to  allow  him  to  launch  his  barque 
for  greatness  on  the  tide  of  human  blood. 

It  is  true,  the  structure  was  not  finished ;  the  last  touch 
stone  of  virtue  was  not  applied  to  his  well-tried  soul ;  he 
died  as  the  mantle  of  power  descended  on  him,  ere  the 
strong  temptations  it  presents  had  time  to  assault  the  well- 
built  fabric  of  his  glory,  cemented  by  goodness. 

He  died  on  the  4th  of  April,  1841,  just  one  month  after 
he  had  been  inaugurated  as  president  of  the  United  States. 


APPENDIX. 


Date  of  the.  Formation  of  the  State  Constitutions,  Sfc. 

MAINE.  The  constitution  of  this  state  was  formed  in  1819, 
but  did  not  go  into  operation  until  1820. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE.  Constitution  established  in  1784 ;  altered 
and  amended  in  1792. 

VERMONT.  The  first  constitution  of  Vermont  was  framed  in 
1777.  The  present  constitution  was  adopted  in  1793,  and 
amended  in  1836. 

MASSACHUSETTS.  The  constitution  of  this  state  was  formed 
in  1780,  and  altered  and  amended  in  1821. 

CONNECTICUT.  The  colonial  charter  granted  by  Charles  II., 
in  1662,  was  the  basis  of  the  government  till  the  year  1818,  when 
the  present  constitution  was  adopted. 

RHODE  ISLAND.  This  state,  in  1842,  was  without  a  written 
constitution,  and  in  this  respect  forms  an  exception  to  the  other 
states  of  the  Union.  The  government  of  this  state  is  adminis 
tered  according  to  the  charter  granted  to  the  colony  by  Charles 
II.,  in  1663. 

NEW  YORK.  This  state  adopted  a  constitution  in  1777,  which 
was  amended  in  1801.  A  new  constitution  was  framed  in  1821. 

NEW  JERSEY.  The  constitution  of  New  Jersey  was  formed 
in  the  year  1776,  since  which  it  has  continued  without  alteration 
to  the  present  time,  except  that  the  word  colony  has  been  changed 
to  state ;  but  the  legislature  has,  at  various  times,  explained  its 
provisions  in  relation  to  particular  parts. 

PENNSYLVANIA.  The  first  constitution  of  Pennsylvania  was 
adopted  in  1776 ;  the  present  was  adopted  in  1790,  and  amended 
in  1838. 

DELAWARE.  The  first  constitution  of  this  state  was  adopted 
in  1776.  A  new  one  was  adopted  in  1792,  and  amended  in  1831. 

MARYLAND.  The  constitution  of  this  state  was  adopted  in 
1776.  It  has  undergone  various  amendments.  It*  grants  the 
singular  power  of  amending  the  constitution  to  the  legislature, 
independently  of  the  express  vote  of  the  people. 

VIRGINIA.  The  first  constitution  of  this  state  was  formed  in 
47 


554  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

1776,  and  an  amended  constitution  was  adopted  by  a  Convention, 
on  the  14th  of  January,  1830,  and  went  into  operation  in  the 
year  1831. 

NORTH  CAROLINA.  The  constitution  of  North  Carolina  was 
framed  in  1776,  and  was  amended  in  1835. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA.  A  constitution  was  adopted  by  this  state 
in  1775.  The  present  constitution  was  adopted  in  1790.  The 
latter  has  been  twice  amended,  first  in  1808,  and  again  in  1816. 

GEORGIA.  Georgia  first  formed  a  constitution  in  1777;  a 
second,  in  1785 ;  and  a  third,  which  is  now  in  operation,  in  1798. 
This  last  has  been  amended  in  respect  to  one  judicial  provision. 

KENTUCKY.  The  constitution  of  Kentucky  was  first  formed 
in  1790.  A  new  one  was  framed- in  1799. 

TENNESSEE.  The  constitution  of  Tennessee  was  adopted  in 
1796;  amended  in  1834. 

OHIO.  The  constitution  of  this  state  was  adopted  in  1802. 
It  may  be  amended  by  a  convention,  but,  as  yet,  has  experienced 
no  change. 

INDIANA.  The  constitution  of  Indiana  was  adopted  in  1816; 
may  be  amended  by  convention,  but  has  not  yet  been  altered. 

LOUISIANA.  The  constitution  of  this  state  was  formed  in 
1812.  Provision  is  made  for  its  amendment  by  a  convention, 
chosen  by  the  people. 

MISSISSIPPI.  Constitution  adopted  in  1817,  with  provisions 
for  its  being  amended  by  convention.  It  was  amended  in  1 832. 

ILLINOIS.     From  the  North-west  territory  ;  admitted  in  1818. 

ALABAMA.     From  part  of  Georgia ;  admitted  in  1818. 

MISSOURI.  Formed  from  a  part  of  the  Louisiana  purchase  ; 
admitted  in  1820. 

ARKANSAS.  From  a  portion  of  the  Louisiana  purchase ;  ad 
mitted  in  1836. 

MICHIGAN,  which  was  constituted  a  territory  in  1805 ;  admitted 
in  1837. 


Qualifications  of  Foters,  or  Right  of  Suffrage,  in  each  State. 

MAINE.  The  right  of  suffrage  is  nearly  universal,  being  grant 
ed  to  all  male  citizens  of  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  upwards, 
who  have  resided  in  the  state  for  three  months,  next  preceding 
the  election.  Paupers,  persons  under  guardianship,  and  Indians 
not  taxed,  are  excepted. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE.     Right  of  suffrage  granted  to  all  males  of 


APPENDIX.  555 

twenty-one  years  of  age  and  upwards,  excepting  paupers,  and 
persons  excused  from  paying  taxes  at  their  special  request 

VERMONT.  Right  of  suffrage  extends  to  all  males  of  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  and  upwards,  who  have  resided  one  year  in  the 
state,  next  preceding  the  election,  and  are  of  a  quiet  and  peaceable 
behavior. 

MASSACHUSETTS.  Right  of  suffrage  extends  to  all  males  of 
twenty-one  years  of  age  and  upwards,  (paupers  and  persons  under 
guardianship  excepted,)  who  have  resided  within  the  common 
wealth  one  year,  and  within  the  town  or  district  in  which  they 
may  claim  a  right  to  vote,  six  calendar  months  next  preceding 
any  election,  and  who  have  paid  a  state  or  county  tax  assessed 
upon  them  within  two  years  next  preceding  such  election,  and 
also  to  every  citizen  who  may  be  by  law  exempted  from  taxa 
tion,  and  who  may  be,  in  all  other  respects,  qualified  as  above 
mentioned. 

CONNECTICUT.  Must  have  gained  a  settlement  in  the  state 
six  months,  done  military  duty,  paid  a  state  tax,  and  taken  the 
prescribed  oaths. 

RHODE  ISLAND.  Three  months'  residence,  and  own  a  freehold 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  dollars. 

NEW  YORK.  Right  of  suffrage  extends  to  all  males  of  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  inhabitants  of  the  state  for  the  last  year,  and 
residents  of  the  county  for  the  last  six  months.  A  colored  man 
must  have  resided  in  the  state  three  years,  and  hold  a  freehold 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  free  of  all  encumbrance. 

NEW  JERSEY.  The  language  of  the  constitution  on  this  point 
is,  that  all  persons  of  full  age  shall  have  a  right  to  vote,  who  are 
worth  fifty  pounds,  proclamation  money,  clear  estate  in  the  same, 
and  have  resided  in  the  county  in  which  they  claim  to  vote,  for 
twelve  months  immediately  preceding  the  election.  By  a  special 
act  of  the  legislature,  every  white  male  inhabitant,  of  lawful  age, 
and  who  has  paid  a  tax,  is  considered  worth  fifty  pounds,  and 
therefore  entitled  to  vote. 

PENNSYLVANIA.  A  citizen  of  the  state  two  years,  and  paid  a 
state  and  county  tax.  Persons  qualified,  between  the  ages  of 
twenty-one  and  two,  may  vote,  although  they  have  paid  no  taxes. 

DELAWARE.  The  right  of  suffrage  the  same  as  in  Pennsyl 
vania, 

MARYLAND.  One  year  in  the  state,  and  six  months  in  the 
county,  preceding  the  election  at  which  he  offers  to  vote. 

VIRGINIA.  Right  of  suffrage  extends  to  every  white  male 
citizen  of  the  commonwealth,  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  or 
who  has  a  joint  interest  to  the  amount  of  twenty-five  dollars,  and 


556  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

having  been  a  housekeeper  one  year,  and  been  assessed  with  a 
part  of  the  revenue  of  the  commonwealth,  within  the  preceding 
year,  and  actually  paid  the  same. 

NORTH  CAROLINA.  A  citizen  of  the  state  one  year,  who  has 
paid  taxes,  may  vote  for  members  of  the  house  of  commons,  but 
must  own  fifty  acres  of  land  to  vote  for  senators. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA.  Right  of  suffrage  is  granted  to  every  free 
white  male  citizen,  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  resident  two 
years,  a  freeholder  of  fifty  acres  of  land,  or  has  paid  a  tax  the 
preceding  year,  of  three  shillings  sterling,  towards  the  support 
of  government. 

GEORGIA.  The  right  of  suffrage  extends  to  all  citizens  who 
have  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  six  months'  resi 
dence  in  the  county  where  he  offers  his  vote,  and  must  have  paid 
all  taxes  imposed  on  him. 

ALABAMA.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  one  year  in  the 
state,  and  three  months'  residence  hi  the  county  where  he  offers 
his  vote. 

MISSISSIPPI.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  residence  in 
this  state  one  year,  and  in  the  county  six  months,  and  having 
done  military  duty  or  paid  taxes. 

LOUISIANA.  Residence  in  the  county  where  he  offers  his  vote 
one  year,  and  having  paid  taxes  within  the  last  six  months. 

TENNESSEE.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  six  months' 
residence  in  the  county  where  he  offers  his  vote. 

KENTUCKY.  The  right  of  suffrage  extends  to  every  free  male 
white  citizen  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  who  has  resided 
in  the  state  two  years,  or  in  the  county  where  he  votes,  one  year 
next  preceding. 

OHIO.  Right  of  suffrage  extends  to  white  male  inhabitants, 
above  twenty-one  years,  who  have  resided  in  the  state  one  year 
immediately  preceding  the  election,  and  who  have  paid  a  state 
or  county  tax. 

INDIANA.  Right  of  suffrage  is  granted  to  all  male  citizens  of 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years  and  upwards,  who  have  resided  in 
the  state  a  year  immediately  preceding  an  election. 

ILLINOIS.  Residence  in  the  state  six  months,  but  can  only 
vote  in  the  county  where  he  actually  resides. 

MISSOURI.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  one  year's 
residence  in  the  state  next  preceding  the  election,  and  three 
months  in  the  county. 

MICHIGAN.  Twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  six  months'  resi 
dence  next  preceding  election. 

ARKANSAS.     Same  as  in  Michigan. 


APPENDIX.  557 


Qualifications  for  Governors,  Senators,  and  Representatives  in  the 
different  States. 

MAINE.  —  Governor.  A  native  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
five  years  a  citizen  of  the  state,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  —  Sena 
tors.  Five  years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  one  year  of  the 
state,  and  twenty-five  years  of  age.  —  Representatives.  A  citizen 
of  the  United  States  five  years,  an  inhabitant  of  the  state  one 
year,  and  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE.  —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States 
seven  years,  an  estate  of  £500,  (one  half  a  freehold,)  and  thirty 
years  of  age.  —  Senators.  Residence  in  the  state  seven  years, 
a  freehold  estate  of  £200,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  —  Representa 
tives.  Two  years  an  inhabitant  of  the  state,  and  an  estate  of 
£100,  one  half  a  freehold. 

VERMONT.  —  Governor.    A  citizen  of  the  state  four  years. 

—  Senators.     A  qualified  voter,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  —  Repre 
sentatives.     Persons  most  noted  for  wisdom  and  virtue,  and  who 
have  resided  in  the  state  two  years. 

MASSACHUSETTS. —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  state  seven 
years,  an  estate  of  £1000,  and  of  the  Christian  religion.  —  Sena 
tors.  Five  years  a  citizen  of  the  state,  a  freehold  of  £300,  or 
ratable  estate  of  £600.  —  Representatives.  A  citizen  of  the  state 
one  year,  and  a  freehold  of  £100,  or  ratable  estate  of  £200. 

RHODE  ISLAND.  —  Governor.    A  native  citizen,  and  a  freeman. 

—  Senators.     A  native  citizen,  resident  of  the  district  where  he 
is  chosen,  and  a  freeman. 

CONNECTICUT. —  Governor.  A  voter,  and  thirty  years  of 
age.  —  Senators.  A  qualified  voter.  —  Representatives.  A  quali 
fied  voter. 

NEW  YORK. —  Governor.  A  native  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  five  years  a  citizen  of  the  state,  a  freeholder,  and  thir 
ty  years  of  age.  —  Senators.  A  qualified  voter,  and  a  freeholder. 

—  Representatives.     No  qualifications. 

NEW  JERSEY.  —  Governor.  A  resident  of  the  state.  —  Senators. 
No  senate ;  the  duties  performed  by  the  legislative  council.  — 
Representatives.  A  citizen  of  the  state  one  year,  and  real  or  per 
sonal  estate  of  £500,  proclamation  money. 

PENNSYLVANIA.  —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  state  seven 
years,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  —  Senators.  A  citizen  of  the  state 
four  years,  and  of  the  district  where  chosen  the  last  year,  and 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  —  Representatives.  A  citizen  of  the 
state  three  years,  and  for  the  last  year  a  citizen  of  the  city  or 
county  where  chosen. 
47* 


558  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

DELAWARE. —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States 
twelve  years,  of  the  state  the  last  six  years,  and  thirty-six  years 
of  age.  — Senators.  Citizen  of  the  state  three  years,  a  freehold 
of  two  hundred  acres,  or  £1000,  and  twenty-seven  years  of  age. 

—  Representatives.    A  citizen  of  the  state  three  years,  and  twenty- 
four  years  of  age. 

MARYLAND. —  Governor.  A  resident  of  the  state  above  five 
years,  and  twenty- five  years  of  age.  —  Senators.  A  resident  of 
the  state  three  years,  and  twenty-five  years  of  age.  —  Represen 
tatives.  Resident  in  the  county  where  chosen  one  year. 

VIRGINIA. — Governor.  A  native  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
citizen  of  the  state  five  years,  and  thirty  years  of  age;  ineligible 
for  three  years  after  the  first  term.  —  Senators.  A  resident  and 
freeholder  in  the  district  where  chosen,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  — 
Representatives.  A  resident  and  freeholder  in  the  county  where 
chosen,  and  twenty-five  years  of  age. 

NORTH  CAROLINA.  —  Governor.  A  resident  in  the  state  five 
years,  freehold  in  the  state  of  more  than  £1000,  and  thirty  years 
of  age.  —  Senators.  A  citizen  of  the  county  where  chosen  one 
year,  and  three  hundred  acres  of  land.  —  Representatives.  A  citi 
zen  of  the  county  where  chosen  one  year,  one  hundred  acres  of 
land  in  fee  or  for  the  term  of  his  life. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA.  —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  state  ten 
years,  an  estate  of  £1500  sterling,  clear  of  debt,  and  thirty  years 
of  age.  —  Senators.  A  citizen  of  the  state  five  years,  a  resident 
of  the  district  where  chosen,  and  an  estate  of  £300  sterling ;  or, 
not  being  a  resident,  an  estate  of  £1000,  and  thirty  years  of  age. 

—  Representatives.    A  citizen  of  the  state  three  years,  a  resident, 
and  an  estate  of  five  hundred  acres  of  land  and  ten  negroes,  or 
£150  sterling  in  real  estate  ;  or,  not  being  a  resident,  an  estate 
of  £500  sterling. 

GEORGIA.  —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States  twelve 
years,  and  of  the  state  six  years,  an  estate  of  five  hundred  acres 
of  land,  and  other  property  amounting  to  $4000  more  than  debts 
due,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  —  Senators.  A  citizen  of  the  United 
States  nine  years,  and  of  the  state  three  years,  a  freehold  of 
$500,  or  taxable  property  of  $1000  more  than  debts  due,  all  legal 
taxes  paid,  and  twenty-five  years  of  age.  —  Representatives.  A 
citizen  of  the  United  States  seven  years,  and  of  the  state  three 
years,  a  freehold  of  $250,  or  taxable  property  of  $500  more  than 
debts  due,  and  all  legal  taxes  paid. 

ALABAMA.  — Governor.  A  native  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and  a  citizen  of  the  state  four  years,  thirty  years  of  age,  and  in 
eligible  for  more  than  four  successive  years.  —  Senators.  A  citi 
zen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  state  two  years,  and  of  the  district 


APPENDIX.  559 

where  chosen  one  year,  and  twenty-seven  years  of  age.  —  Repre 
sentatives.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  state  two  years, 
and  of  the  county  where  chosen  one  year,  and  twenty-one  years 
of  age. 

MISSISSIPPI.  —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States 
twenty  years,  and  of  the  state  five  years,  a  freehold  estate  of 
$2000,  and  thirty  years  of  age  ;  ineligible  for  more  than  four 
successive  years.  —  Senators.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and  of  the  state  four  years,  the  last  year  residing  in  the  district 
where  chosen,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  —  Representatives.  A  citi 
zen  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  state  two  years,  the  last 
year  residing  in  the  county  where  chosen,  a  freehold  estate  of 
$500,  and  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

LOUISIANA.  —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  the  state  six  years,  an  estate  of  $5000,  and  thirty-five  years 
of  age.  —  Senators.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  this  st,;ite 
four  years,  and  in  the  district  where  chosen  one  year,  an  estate 
of  $1000,  and  twenty-seven  years  of  age.  —  Representatives.  A 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  state  two  years,  and  of  the 
county  where  chosen  one  year,  an  estate  in  land  of  $500,  and 
twenty-one  years  of  age. 

TENNESSEE.  —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  arid 
of  the  state  seven  years,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  —  Senators.  A 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  three  years'  residence  in  the  state, 
and  in  the  county  where  chosen  one  year,  and  thirty  years  of 
age.  —  Representatives.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  of 
the  state  three  years,  residence  in  the  county  where  chosen  one 
year,  and  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

KENTUCKY. —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  the  state  six  years,  thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  ineligible  for 
more  than  one  term  in  seven  years.  —  Senators.  A  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  of  the  state  six  years,  and  of  the  district  where 
chosen  the  last  year,  and  thirty-five  years  of  age.  —  Representa 
tives.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  state  two  year.^, 
and  of  the  county  where  chosen  the  last  year,  and  twenty-four 
years  of  age. 

OHIO.  —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States  twelve 
years,  an  inhabitant  of  the  state  four  years,  and  thirty-five  years 
of  age.  —  Senators.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the 
district  where  chosen  two  years,  having  paid  a  state  and  county 
tax,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  —  Representatives.  A  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  an  inhabitant  of  the  state,  and  a  resident  in  the 
county  where  chosen  one  year,  having  paid  a  state  or  county  tax, 
and  twenty-five  years  of  age. 

INDIANA.  —  Governor.     A   citizen  of  the  United  States  ten 


560  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

years,  and  of  the  state  five  years,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  —  Sena 
tors.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  state  two  years,  and 
of  the  district  where  chosen  the  last  year,  having  paid  a  state  or 
county  tax,  and  twenty-five  years  of  age.  —  Representatives.  A 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  state  and  county  where 
chosen  one  year,  having  paid  a  state  or  county  tax,  and  twenty- 
one  years  of  age. 

ILLINOIS. —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States  thirty 
years,  and  of  the  state  two  years,  thirty  years  of  age,  and  ineli 
gible  for  two  successive  terms.  —  Senators.  A  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  the  district  where  chosen  the  last  year, 
having  paid  a  state  or  county  tax,  and  twenty-five  years  of  age. 

—  Representatives.     A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  an  in 
habitant  of  the  state   and  county  where  chosen,  having  paid  a 
state  or  county  tax,  and  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

MISSOURI.  —  Governor.  A  native  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
a  resident  of  the  state  four  years,  and  thirty-five  years  of  age. 

—  Senators.     A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  state  four 
vears,  and  of  the  district  where  chosen  one  year,  having  paid  a 
state  or  county  tax,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  — Representatives.   A 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  state  two  years,  and  of  the 
county  where  chosen  one  year,  having  paid  a  state  or  county 
tax,  and  twenty-four  years  of  age. 

MICHIGAN.  —  Governor.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States  five 
years,  and  a  resident  of  the  state  the  last  two  years.  —  Senators. 
A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  qualified  voter  in  the 
county  where  chosen.  —  Representatives.  Same  as  the  senators. 

ARKANSAS.  —  Governor.  A  native  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
or  a  resident  of  the  state  ten  years  previous  to  the  adoption  of 
the  constitution,  and  four  years  preceding  the  election.  —  Sena 
tors.  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  a  resident  of  the  state  one 
year,  and  thirty  years  of  age.  —  Representatives.  A  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  a  resident  of  the  county  where  chosen,  and  twen 
ty-five  years  of  age. 


APPENDIX. 


561 


•«=  _   JCTBi  *  . \B.  : • — z — £g=r   - 


THE  CAPITOL. 

The  Capitol  of  the  United  States,  at  Washington,  is  situated 
on  an  area  including  thirty  acres.  The  building  stands  on  the 
western  portion  of  the  ground,  and  commands  a  beautiful  and 
extensive  view  of  the  city,  the  surrounding  country,  and  the  wind 
ings  of  the  Potomac.  The  entire  space  is  enclosed  by  an  iron 
railing  of  substantial  workmanship. 

The  building  itself  is  three  stories  in  height  The  first  is  a 
rusticated  basement,  crowned  by  two  others,  comprised  within 
an  elevation  of  pillars  and  pilasters  of  the  Corinthian  order. 
These  columns  are  thirty  feet  in  height,  forming  a  noble  portico 
on  the  eastern  side,  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in  extent.  The 
whole  building  is  surrounded  by  a  balustrade  of  stone,  and 
crowned  by  a  lofty  dome  in  the  centre,  and  a  flat  one  upon  each 
wing. 

The  representatives'  hall  is  situated  in  the  second  story  of 
the  south  wing.  Its  form  is  semicircular  ;  the  chord  of  the  long 
est  dimension  being  ninety-six  feet,  and  the  height  of  the  ceiling 
at  the  most  elevated  point,  sixty  feet.  The  room  is  surrounded 
by  twenty-four  columns  of  variegated  native  marble,  from  the 
banks  of  the  Potomac,  with  capitals  of  white  Italian  marble, 
which  stand  on  freestone  bases,  and  support  a  magnificent  dome, 
painted  in  a  style  designed  to  represent  that  of  the  Pantheon 
at  Rome.  The  speaker's  chair  is  situated  at  one  side  of  the  hall, 
elevated  to  a  level  with  a  broad  promenade,  which  extends  about 
the  sides  of  the  room,  and  is  bounded  by  pillars  and  pilasters  of 
stone.  The  hall  is  ornamented  with  a  chandelier  in  the  centre, 
a  colossal  figure  of  Liberty,  in  plaster;  the  American  eagle,  in 
stone  ;  a  statue,  in  marble,  representing  History  ;  a  magnificent 


562  THE     AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

portrait  of  Lafayette  ;  and  various  other  works  of  art  from  native 
and  foreign  hands. 

The  senate  chamber  is  situated  in  the  north  wing.  Its  form 
is  semicircular.  Its  greatest  length  is  seventy-two  feet,  and  its 
greatest  height  forty-two.  A  series  of  Ionic  columns  support  a 
gallery  on  the  eastern  side,  and  form  a  sort  of  promenade  below, 
while  a  new  gallery  of  iron  pillars  and  railing  projects  from  the 
circular  wall.  The  room  is  ornamented  by  elegant  tapestry,  the 
richest  stucco  work,  and  a  great  variety  of  marble  columns  of  the 
finest  workmanship. 

The  rotunda  occupies  the  centre  of  the  building,  and  is  ninety- 
six  feet  in  diameter,  and  ninety-six  feet  high.  This  is  the  great 
thoroughfare  of  the  building,  and  leads  to  the  halls  of  legislation 
and  the  library.  The  circumference  of  this  room  is  divided  into 
panels  by  lofty  Grecian  pilasters,  which  support  an  entablature 
ornamented  by  wreaths  of  olives,  the  whole  crowned  with  a 
hemispherical  dome,  resembling  the  dome  of  the  Pantheon  at 
Rome.  These  panels  are  ornamented  with  four  historical  paint 
ings  of  great  value,  commemorating  some  of  the  most  important 
scenes  of  the  revolution.  These  paintings  were  executed  by 
order  of  the  United  States'  government,  by  Col.  Trumbull,  an 
officer  of  the  revolution,  and  for  several  years  an  aid  to  the 
commander-in-chief. 

The  pictures  themselves  are  grand  in  the  extreme,  and  are 
calculated  to  produce  a  powerful  effect  on  the  mind  of  every 
man  who  has  any  proper  sense  of  the  difficulties  of  those  times, 
and  the  grandeur  of  the  prize  for  which  so  many  millions  were 
contending.  These  paintings  are  considered  of  great  value. 
The  first  represents  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  with  portraits  of  the  signers,  their  dress  corresponding 
with  the  fashion  of  the  times,  tapestry  of  the  room,  taken  from 
that  in  which  congress  assembled  at  the  time,  with  a  back 
ground  representing  military  flags,  and  other  trophies,  which 
had  been  taken  from  the  enemy.  The  second  painting  is  the 
surrender  of  Gen.  Burgoyne.  It  represents  Gen.  Burgoyne,  at 
tended  by  several  officers,  arriving  near  the  marquee  of  Gen. 
Gates.  Gen.  Gates  has  advanced  a  few  steps  to  meet  his  pris 
oner,  who  has  dismounted,  and  is  in  the  act  of  offering  his 
sword.  Gen.  Gates  declines  to  receive  the  sword,  and  invites 
them  to  enter  his  tent  and  partake  of  refreshments.  In  the  back 
ground  are  seen  troops  crossing  the  country,  companies  making 
their  appearance  behind  the  woods,  and  a  great  variety  of  both 
American  and  British  officers  performing  each  his  part  of  the 
ever-memorable  scene. 

The  third  painting  is  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at 
Yorktown.  It  represents  the  scene  at  the  moment  when  the 
principal  officers  of  the  British  army  are  passing  between  two 


APPENDIX.  563 

groups  of  French  and  American  generals  to  the  place  where  their 
arms  were  to  be  surrendered.  The  principal  officers  of  the  three 
nations  are  therefore  brought  near  together,  and  admit  of  distinct 
and  separate  portraits.  In  the  distance  is  seen  the  entrance  of 
the  town,  a  glimpse  of  York  River,  and  the  entrance  of  Chesa 
peake  Bay.  In  the  last  painting,  Gen.  Washington  is  repre 
sented  as  resigning  his  commission  as  cornmander-in-cliief  of 
the  American  army. 

After  leaving  the  rotunda,  we  pass  westerly  along  the  gallery 
of  the  principal  stairway,  to  the  library-room.  This  room  is 
ninety-two  feet  long,  thirty-four  feet  wide,  and  thirty-six  feet 
high.  It  is  divided  into  twelve  arched  alcoves,  ornamented  with 
fluted  pilasters,  resembling  the  Octagon  tower  at  Athens.  With 
in  the  room  are  four  pillars  of  stone,  which  support  the  galleries 
extending  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  room  on  both  sides, 
and  divided  into  the  same  number  of  shelved  recesses  as  the 
lower  apartment.  The  arched  roof  corresponds  with  the  alcoved 
form  of  the  room,  and  is  ornamented  with  the  richest  stucco  work, 
wreaths  of  flowers,  &c.  The  whole  room  is  handsomely  fur 
nished  with  sofas,  tables,  desks,  and  carpeting.  The  library,  at 
present,  comprises  about  fourteen  thousand  volumes. 

The  Supreme  Court  room  is  on  the  basement  story  of  the  north 
wing,  immediately  under  the  senate  room.  Its  form  is  semi 
circular,  with  an  arched  ceiling  diverging,  like  the  radii  of  a  cir 
cle,  from  the  central  point  over  the  bench  of  the  judges. 

Besides  the  rooms  already  mentioned,  are  twenty-seven  others, 
appropriated  to  different  purposes,  for  the  officers  of  the  two 
houses  of  congress  and  the  Supreme  Court,  and  forty-five  to  the 
use  of  committees.  The  building  having  been  situated,  origi 
nally,  on  the  declivity  of  a  hill,  the  west  front  showed  an  eleva 
tion  one  story  of  rooms  below  the  level  of  the  east  front  and  ends. 
To  remedy  this  defect,  a  range  of  casement  arches  has  been  pro 
jected,  in  a  semicircular  form,  on  the  west,  and  a  paved  terrace 
formed  over  them,  which,  at  a  short  distance,  gives  the  building 
the  appearance  of  resting  on  a  uniform  level. 

The  dimensions  of  the  grounds  and  building  are  the  fol 
lowing. 

Ground  within  the  railing,  thirty  acres ;  length  of  the  foot- 
walk  outside  the  railing, one  thousand  five  hundred  and  five  feet; 
length  of  the  building,  three  hundred  and  fifty-two  feet  and  four 
inches  ;  depth  of  wings,  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  feet  and  six 
inches ;  east  projection  and  steps,  sixty-five  feet ;  west  projec 
tion  and  steps,  eighty-three  feet ;  area  of  building,  one  and  a 
half  acres  and  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty  feet ; 
height  of  the  wings,  seventy  feet  j  height  of  centre  dome,  one 
hundred  and  forty-five  feet. 


564  THE    AMERICAN    POLITICIAN. 

The  following  is  the  cost  of  the  building,  with  the  time  of 
erection. 

North  wing,  commenced  in  1793,  finished  in  1800, 

cost, $480,262  57 

South  wing,  commenced  in  1803,  finished  in  1808,    308,808  41 
Centre  building,  commenced  in  1818,  finished  in 

1827 957,647  35 

Total,    .    .    .     $1,746,718  33 

The  seat  of  government  was  removed  to  Washington  in  1800, 
during  the  administration  of  John  Adams,  and  the  city  was  in 
corporated  in  1802.  In  1814,  congress  determined  by  vote  that 
the  government  should  remain  permanently  at  this  place.  From 
that  time  the  most  liberal  appropriations  were  made  for  complet 
ing  the  necessary  buildings,  and  for  the  general  prosperity  of 
the  city. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  city  in  the  Union  that  has  so  many  pleas 
ant  heights  surrounding  it  as  Washington.  The  line  of  high 
lands  in  the  vicinity  presents  to  the  eye  the  form  of  a  horse-shoe ; 
the  Potomac,  more  than  a  mile  in  width,  forming  the  opening  at 
the  south.  The  heights  afford  the  most  delightful  country  seats, 
which  present  from  the  metropolis  a  splendid  appearance.  The 
city  itself  is  situated  at  the  head  of  tide-water  navigation,  near 
the  centre  of  the  seaboard  line,  and  has  a  ready  communication 
with  the  ocean.  Springs  of  pure  water  are  in  abundance ;  the 
territoiy  and  the  convenience  of  intercourse  with  every  part  of 
the  republic  is  surpassed  by  that  of  no  point  in  the  Union. 


BELA   MARSH, 
Bookseller  and  Stationer, 

No.  25  Cornhill,  Boston, 

Keeps  constantly  for  sale,  a  general  assortment  of 

School,  Classical  and  Miscellaneous  Books. 

Also  STATIONERY  &  BLANK  BOOKS,  on  liberal  terms. 

[E?For  sale  as  above,  PHYSIOLOGICAL,  PHRENOLOGICAL, 
SOCIAL  REFORM,  and  other  valuable  Books,  viz. : 

Graham's  large  work,  in  2  vols.,  containing  his  Lectures 

on  the  Science  of  Human  Life, 
do.     Lecture  to  Young  Men. 

do.     Philosophy  of  Sacred  History,  with  particular 
reference  to  the  authority  of  the  Bible  for  man's 
eating  Flesh,  drinking  Wine,  &tc.  &c. 
do.     Treatise  on  Bread  and  Bread-Making, 
do.         do.       on  Epidemic  Diseases. 
Alcott's  Young  Wife,  or  Duties  of  Woman  in  the  Mar 
riage  Relation, 
do.     Young  Housekeeper,  or  Thoughts  on  Food  and 

Cookery, 
do.     Young  Mother,  or  the  Physical  Education  of 

Children, 
do.     House  I  Live  in,  or  the  Human  Body,  for  the 

use  of  Families  and  Schools, 
do.     Young  Woman's  Guide  to  Excellence, 
do.     Young  Husband,  or  Duties  of  Man  in  the  Mar 
riage  Relation, 
do.     Vegetable  Diet ;  as  sanctioned  by  Medical  Men 

and  by  experience  in  all  ages, 
do.     Treatise  on  Tea  and  Coffee — On  Tobacco, 
do.     Library  of  Health,  in  6  vols. 


Alcott's  Moral  Reformer,  and  Teacher  on  the  Human' 
Constitution,  in  2  vols. 

HEALTH  TRACTS,  by  Dr.  AlcotU  These  are  sold  either 
separate  or  bound  together.  No.  1.  Dosing  and 
Drugging.  No.  2.  On  Consumption.  No.  3.  City 
and  Country.  No.  4.  The  Right  Use  of  Fruits.  No. 
5.  Thoughts  on  Bathing.  No.  6.  Breathing  Bad 
Air.  No.  7.  Clothing  and  Temperature.  No.  8. 
Domestic  Poisons.  No.  9.  Tight  Lacing.  No.  10. 
Abuses  of  the  Eye.  No.  11.  Health  in  Common 
Schools.  No.  12.  The  Right  Use  of  Physicians. 

Armstrong's  Art  of  Preserving  Health. 

Fowler's  large  work  on  Practical  Phrenology. 

do.     Principles  of  Phrenology  and  Physiology   ap 
plied  to  Marriage,  or  Man's  Social  Relations, 
do.     Hereditary  Descent, 
do.     On  Education  and  Self-Improvement, 
do.     On  Memory —Tight  Lacing — -Temperance, 
do-     Phrenological  Journal. 

HYDROPATHY  ;  or  the  Water  Cure  :  its  Principles,  Modes 
of  Treatment,  &c.,  illustrated  with  many  cases. — 
Compiled  from  the  most  eminent  English  authors  on 
the  subject.  By  Joel  Shew,  M.  D. 

A  Concise  Exposition  of  the  Doctrine  of  Association,  OF 
Plan  for  a  Reorganization  of  Society,  which  will  se 
cure  to  the  Human  Race,  individually  and  collec 
tively,  their  Happiness  and  Elevation.  (Based  on 
Fourier's  Theory  of  Domestic  and  Industrial  Associa 
tion.)  By  Albert  Brisbane. 

A  Popular  View  of  the  Doctrines  of  Charles  Fourier. 
By  Parke  Godwin. 

Association  in  connection  with  Education  and  Religion 9 
two  Lectures  delivered  before  the  N.  England  Fourier 
Society,  in  Boston,  Feb.  29th  and  March  7th,  1844. 

SOCIAL  REFORM  ;  or  an  Appeal  in  behalf  of  Association, 
based  upon  the  principles  of  a  Pure  Christianity. 
By  James  Boyle,  a  member  of  the  Northampton  As 
sociation  of  Education  and  Industry. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 

AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL.  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
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JUN  10  1! 


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